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Morris L. Hawk

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Cleveland
1375 East Ninth Street
One Cleveland Center, 10th Floor
Cleveland, OH 44114
P: 216.615.4841 216.615.4841
F: 216.623.0134
E: mhawk@ralaw.com | vCard

Overview Education Credentials Affiliations Insights

Morris helps employers successfully navigate all legal aspects of the employment relationship. He focuses his practice on employee benefits matters. He assists employers with plan design and compliance matters for both qualified and non-qualified plans, as well as representing employers in employee benefits litigation, including breach of fiduciary duty claims. In addition, Morris advises employers on complying with federal and state employment laws, traditional labor relations law, and union avoidance. Morris also represents employers in workers’ compensation matters throughout Ohio.

In addition to his employment practice, Morris represents owners, general contractors and subcontractors in construction litigation. He has experience in a wide variety of commercial litigation and has represented gaming-related vendors before the Ohio Casino Control Commission and the Ohio Lottery Commission.
 

Experience

Employee Benefits Plan Design and Compliance:

  • Advising on and drafting deferred compensation agreements to ensure Section 409A compliance for private sector employers and Section 457(b) compliance for non-profits.
  • Counseling employers on compliance issues regarding qualified and non-qualified pension plans, health and welfare plans, and 401(k) and 403(b) plans.
  • Advising employers on numerous compliance issues under the ACA, including obtaining a 90% reduction in an ESRP penalty for an employer after submission of a position statement to the IRS.
  • Advising employers on multi-employer plan issues, including plan terminations, withdrawal liability, and critical status matters.
  • Drafting summary plan descriptions, plan amendments, material modifications, and other notice requirements.
  • Serving as Benefits Counsel (seller-side and buyer-side) on numerous transactions.

Employee Benefits Litigation:

  • Representing employers/plan sponsors in ERISA breach of fiduciary duty claims.
  • Prevailed in arbitration on behalf of a construction company in a withdrawal liability dispute over whether the company met the construction industry exception under Section 1383 of ERISA.
  • Represented a major Cleveland bulk food distributor that withdrew from a multiemployer pension plan in a dispute over the proper calculation of its withdrawal liability, resulting in a $7 million reduction in liability.
  • Achieved a successful resolution for a privately-owned steel manufacturer in a breach of fiduciary duty claim against a former corporate officer and a related ERISA claim by the former corporate officer seeking payment of benefits allegedly owed under a top-hat plan.
  • Extensive experience in defending employers against class action lawsuits alleging unlawful reductions in collectively bargained retiree medical benefits.

Employment Law Compliance:

  • Counseling employers on all aspects of employment law, including ADA, ADEA, FMLA, FLSA, the WARN Act, COBRA, Title VII, and immigration compliance matters.
  • Assisting national employers in day-to-day employment matters and compliance with federal and state employment laws (including California and New York).
  • Preparing numerous employee handbooks and updating employment policies (including state-specific policies).
  • Conducting training sessions for HR representatives and front-line supervisors on proper evaluation of employee performance, documentation of substandard performance, legal obligations regarding employee sick leave, social media policies, among other topics.

Employment Litigation:

  • Successfully represented a major produce distributor in the litigation and resolution of a collective action wage and hour case involving alleged overtime violations in the compensation of truck drivers.
  • Prevailed at summary judgment on behalf of clients on a broad range of employment claims, including ADA, FMLA, ADEA, Title VII, state discrimination claims, and wrongful discharge in violation of public policy claims.
  • Prepared numerous position statements in response to EEOC and OCRC charges that resulted in “no probable cause” determinations for clients.
  • Extensive experience conducting internal investigations of discrimination claims, including sexual harassment, retaliation, and age discrimination claims.
  • Achieved favorable resolutions for clients investigated by the Department of Labor for potential wage and hour violations.
  • Successfully provided pre-suit representation of an employer against purported class action FCRA violations, resulting in the withdrawal of claims by a class action law firm.
  • Representing employers in administrative hearings before the Industrial Commission of Ohio and in common pleas courts throughout Ohio, and counseling employers on day-to-day claims administration.

Traditional Labor Relations:

  • Represented employers before the National Labor Relations Board and in the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal on numerous issues, including discriminatory discharge, no-solicitation policies, social media policies, unlawful surveillance, and the duty to bargain.
  • Counseled private and public employers on various traditional labor law issues, including bargaining unit accretion, successorship, duty to bargain, and single employer/alter ego issues.
  • Extensive experience in union avoidance campaigns.

Construction:

  • Represented general contractors and subcontractors in payment and delay damage claims.
  • Successfully resolved claims by contractors against subcontractors for negligent performance.
  • Achieved a pre-suit settlement on behalf of a real estate developer against the federal government in a lease dispute.

Premises Liability:

  • Achieved summary judgment for a retail client in a case where the plaintiff alleged injury arising from a falling peg hook.
  • Successfully resolved numerous premises liability claims on favorable terms for clients.