HRPA Meeting Details

Ms. Tracey is engaged in day-to-day counseling of employers on their employment policies and handbooks, disability and leave management, discipline and termination, wage and hour issues, and the proper conduct of reductions in force. She has also conducted training sessions on anti-discrimination and anti-harassment programs, leave administration and litigation avoidance. Ms. Tracey regularly represents employers in administrative proceedings and in litigation involving claims of discrimination and harassment, retaliation, whistleblowing, and violations of leave and wage and hour laws..

Ms. Tracey’s notable experience includes defending a large government contractor in multiple federal and state law actions involving claims of discrimination following a large-scale reduction in force; defending national employers in the retail and recreation industries against regional and nationwide collective actions involving Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) claims for failure to pay overtime wages; defending a large regional bank against claims for violations of the Sarbanes Oxley Act; defending a large national retailer and a national restaurant chain in multiple administrative proceedings alleging discrimination and other employment law claims in Ohio and various states; and assisting a national pharmaceutical company with the conduct of a large scale reduction in force, including specific focus on WARN Act compliance.

Ms. Tracey has been a presenter for the National Business Institute, the Ohio Manufacturers Association and other organizations, speaking on various employment laws and their interpretation, and also litigation avoidance techniques for employers in relation to employee discipline, discharge, pay and leave.

Ms. Tracey is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association. She is admitted to practice law in the state of Ohio. She is also admitted to practice law before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit; and the U.S. District Court for the Northern and Southern Districts of Ohio.

Ms. Tracey received her B.A., magna cum laude, with High Honors, from the University of Cincinnati in 1999, where she was also a Distinguished Honors Scholar and a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She earned her J.D. from the University of Cincinnati College of Law in 2002, where she was an Executive member of the Moot Court Board and the Order of the Barrister. She was also the director of the College of Law's National Moot Court Competition, and a member of the Law Women and Law Women’s Athletic Societies.

With more than 25 years of experience in labor and employment law, Mr. Stone has conducted more than 120 negotiations with unions, defended hundreds of employment discrimination, wrongful discharge, and other claims in court and before administrative agencies such as the EEOC, NLRB, and Department of Labor. He has defended companies against a broad range of challenges including wrongful discharge claims, wage and hour actions, large multi-plaintiff discrimination claims, as well as counseling large, middle market, and smaller clients in a wide variety of employment and labor law matters. Several recent matters handled by Mr. Stone and his colleagues have been reported in the national media, including major cases involving the use of neutrality agreements in the automotive industry in Michigan.

He has also litigated a large number of employment cases through trial or dismissal, including those involving restructuring and reductions in force and restructuring of benefits. He has counseled clients and written on topics as diverse as the ADA, ADEA, WARN Act, the Railway Labor Act, the FMLA, sexual harassment, and other forms of discrimination, non-competition agreements, wrongful discharge, and hiring practices. Mr. Stone also has extensive familiarity with certain international employment law issues, especially those of Canada..

Mr. Stone is particularly knowledgeable about the manufacturing, transportation, automotive, health care, gaming, hospitality and steel industries. He often consults with clients regarding the legal aspects of employment terminations and downsizing. Mr. Stone believes that clients should take a pragmatic approach to their employment relations, combining the best practices from human resource, labor relations, and legal strategies, while aggressively defending themselves against unwarranted attacks on their management rights. Mr. Stone has also provided representation and advice in many successful union avoidance campaigns, labor negotiations, arbitrations, and unfair labor practice charges and actions involving neutrality agreements..

Prior to joining Jackson Lewis, Mr. Stone was chairman of the Labor and Employment Law Group at a prominent regional law firm with more than 130 lawyers..

Mr. Stone is included in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in American Law. He was named an Ohio Super Lawyer by Law and Politics magazine, as featured in Northern Ohio Live magazine, and was included in the 2015 and 2016 Best Lawyers in America lists. He was additionally named a “Leader in the Field” in Ohio in Labor and Employment Law in the 2013 and 2014 Chambers USA Legal Guide.

Matthew is certified by the Law Society of Ontario as a Specialist in Labour Law. He represents employers in labour and employment-related litigation, including wrongful dismissals and labour arbitration. He frequently appears before the courts, including at the appellate level.

He also acts for employers in grievance arbitrations, matters before the Labour Relations Board, and in collective bargaining.

And he represents employers, supervisors and constructors in proceedings under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, including in defence of quasi-criminal charges further to workplace accidents and injuries.