Sarah G. Keller

Sarah partners with employers to litigate and defend complex and challenging cases and to creatively and effectively manage their workforces while minimizing the risk of litigation.

Litigation

Sarah is an experienced litigator. She is admitted to practice in Florida’s state and federal courts. She also routinely represents employers before administrative agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Florida Commission on Human Relations, and Florida’s Division of Administrative Hearings, as well as major arbitration tribunals, including the American Arbitration Association and JAMS.

In connection with her litigation practice, Sarah handles single-plaintiff claims involving the following:

• Title VII
• Florida Civil Rights Act
• 42 U.S.C. § 1981 (Section 1981)
• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
• Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
• Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
• Florida’s Public Sector Whistleblower Act
• Florida’s Private Sector Whistleblower Act
• Workers’ Compensation Retaliation

Sarah routinely handles matters involving difficult pro se plaintiffs and is uniquely adept at tailoring defense strategy in such cases to minimize defense costs while maximizing defensive posture and success at summary judgment. Prior to joining Ogletree Deakins, Sarah worked as an associate attorney with a national litigation firm, where she gained significant trial and litigation experience by representing insurance companies and large corporations in a variety of employment and general liability matters.

Advice and Counsel

Sarah also provides advice to employers on employee and policy-related matters, including the development of personnel policies, employee handbooks, hiring, disciplining, terminating, ADA accommodations, FMLA leave, workplace investigations, non-competition agreements, severance agreements, employee training, and other duties and liabilities of employers. In addition, Sarah is skilled at guiding employers through the complex intersection of laws governing pregnant and nursing mothers, including the Pregnant Workers’ Fairness Act, Pregnancy Discrimination Act, PUMP Act, ADA, and state disability laws.

Labor Management and Defense

In addition to her litigation practice, Sarah assists both private and public employers in a variety of traditional labor matters, including campaigns, unfair labor practice charges, and impasse proceedings. She represents employers before both the National Labor Relations Board and Florida’s Public Employee Relations Commission.

Industries Served

Sarah has extensive experience representing employers in various industries, including:

• Airlines
• Automotive and trucking
• Beverage manufacturing and bottling
• Construction
• Convenience retail
• Finance
• Health care
• Independent delivery services
• Logistics
• Manufacturing
• Professional staffing
• Restaurants and hospitality
• Technology
• Theme parks

Education Achievements

Sarah holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where she graduated in the top 7% of her class. She also served as a Research Editor for the Florida Law Review and received the CALI Book Award for Natural Resources Law. Sarah’s academic achievements during law school resulted in her election into the Order of the Coif.

Prior to law school, Sarah graduated summa cum laude from the University of Florida with dual bachelor’s degrees in History and Political Science, along with a minor in Business Management. She also authored a thesis tracing and comparing the work of female authors in the South following the Civil War.