Ms. Felicity Anne Fowler

Practice Details

• Languages
  Spanish
• Firm Information
  Position

  Attorney

  Firm Name

  McGinnis Lochridge
• Representative Cases & Transactions
  Transactions

  Defended a well-known U.S. corporation in a highly-publicized, class-based discrimination lawsuit brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in U.S. District Court under the Americans with Disabilities Act and secured summary judgment on the basis that the class EEOC sought to represent was not disabled within the meaning of the ADA in EEOC v. Exxon Corp., 124 F.Supp. 2d 987 (N.D. Tex. 2000). Successfully argued before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Hockman v. Westward Communications, 407 F.3d 317 (5th Cir. 2004), issue of first impression, which resulted in employer friendly defense standard in co-worker harassment cases; also handled companion case, Harvill v. Westward Communications, 433 F.3d 428 (5th Cir. 2005) (the Westward cases are often cited in the Fifth Circuit on various aspects of sexual harassment jurisprudence). Helped secure a Fifth Circuit opinion that an employer can defend a safety-based policy under the ADA on business necessity grounds. Successfully tried numerous employment law cases in Federal and State courts, as well as several arbitration forums. Successfully obtained and/or defended numerous temporary and permanent injunctions in misappropriation of trade secrets, unfair competition and covenant not to compete cases. Representation of securities brokerage firms in employment disputes. Recent experience includes a complete defense award for a client in a dispute filed by a former broker challenging stock forfeiture provisions in national employer's employee incentive compensation plan (Howell v. Citigroup Global Markets Inc., NYSE No. 2004-015794). Successfully handled several wage and hour litigation matters, including multiple collective actions under the FLSA. Obtained dismissal of sexual harassment case for employer based on jurisdictional arguments in Lee v. Dollar Tree Stores, Inc., 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53693 (S.D. Tex., July 25, 2007). Obtained numerous summary judgments for employers in employment litigation matters, including: (1) Hockman v. Westward Communications, 282 F.Supp. 2d 512 (E.D. Tex. 2003) (sexual harassment); (2) Harvill v. Westward Communications, 311 F.Supp. 2d 573 (E.D. Tex. 2004) (sexual harassment/FLSA); (3) Weeks v. NationsBank of Texas, N.A., 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4069 (N.D. Tex. 2000) (retaliation); (4) Garrity v. NationsBank of Texas, N.A., 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1454 (N.D. Tex. 1999) (gender discrimination); and (5) Kushner v. Nationsbank, N.A., 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12708 (N.D. Tex. 1998) (ADA discrimination). Frequently lectures on employment law topics for both lawyers and human resources professionals. Employment law training, investigations, analysis, and resolution of complex employment situations.