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Lee Tankle is a trusted senior associate in Ogletree Deakins’ Philadelphia office, where he provides strategic counsel to employers on a wide range of employment-related matters. His expertise helps clients mitigate risks of employment disputes and government investigations. When litigation is unavoidable, Lee’s clients, ranging from small businesses to large corporations, rely on his zealous and effective advocacy in both courts and administrative agencies.
Lee has extensive experience litigating complex claims under federal and state statutes including:
- Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
- Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act (PMWA)
- Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Law (WPCL)
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII)
- Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
- Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
- National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)
- Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (PHRA)
- New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD)
- New Jersey Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA)
He represents employers before state and federal courts, as well as administrative agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC), National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Lee also handles employment-related common law claims including breach of contract, infliction of emotional distress, fraud/misrepresentation, and promissory estoppel.
In addition to litigation, Lee provides day-to-day employment counseling on workplace issues including hiring, discipline, harassment, discrimination, retaliation, medical leaves, and disability accommodations. He collaborates with clients to develop and update employment policies and comprehensive employee handbooks, aiming to prevent litigation and strengthen their position when claims arise. Lee also advises on wage and hour compliance (including wage and hour audits), non-competition/non-solicitation, compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and other employee background check laws, and managing state laws on medicinal and recreational marijuana use.
Lee also has experience conducting workplace investigations. Lee draws on his employment advice and litigation experience to gather evidence, elicit information from witnesses, assess credibility, and conduct fact analyses. He has led numerous high-stakes investigations into workplace misconduct involving C-suite executives, university presidents, and other prominent figures.
Before joining Ogletree Deakins, Lee served as Deputy Chief Human Resources Officer and Associate General Counsel, US Employment Law at Nouryon, an international specialty chemicals company. In this role, he developed and improved HR processes, implemented uniform pay practices for non-union manufacturing employees, created a corporate internship program, and enhanced recruitment and retention practices. Prior to Nouryon, Lee was an associate at a large national law firm in Philadelphia and a mid-sized law firm in central Pennsylvania.
