Mathew Parker

Mathew is not one of those table-pounding attorneys. His style is to approach situations with a calm and reasonable demeanor, which he believes is the most effective way to advocate for his clients’ best interests.

Mathew considers himself to be a jack-of-all-trades employment attorney. He defends employers against a wide range of employment law claims ranging from unlawful discrimination, harassment, and retaliation to wrongful discharge and wage and hour violations, although the lion’s share of his work consists of collective and class action litigation, including wage and hour and other claims. He litigates these claims throughout the country in both federal and state courts as well as before administrative agencies like the Department of Labor, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Ohio Civil Rights Commission.

In addition to defending employers against single-plaintiff claims, Mathew also has years of experience litigating multi-plaintiff and complex class and collective action claims, often involving hundreds or even thousands of potential plaintiffs. These cases involved employers in the hospitality, restaurant, retail, manufacturing, and construction industries, among others, and related to some of the most common wage and hour “traps” like worker misclassification, travel time, donning/doffing and other pre- and post-shift work, failure to properly calculate the regular rate of pay, tips, improper recordkeeping, and mileage under-reimbursements.

Mathew also frequently counsels employers about avoiding litigation. In this regard, Mathew educates executives, human resource (HR) teams, and other corporate groups on how to fairly and effectively manage their workforces through:

• Creating and implementing employee handbooks and policies;
• Advising regarding hiring, performance evaluation, documentation, and discharge decisions;
• Managing leave issues and developing strategies to prevent leave abuse;
• Auditing for compliance with various wage and hour laws; and
• Training HR and management.

Mathew is a frequent writer and speaker offering his insights on various employment law and HR-related topics.

Mathew resides in Columbus’ vibrant Clintonville neighborhood with his wife and their three children. He is an avid runner, and if he does not return your email or phone call immediately, you can probably find him running up and down High Street or along the Olentangy River Trail.