| Biography:
Since the eleventh grade, Allan has always wanted to practice labor and employment
law. By spending his entire professional career at Proskauer Rose LLP and becoming
a partner in its Labor and Employment Law Department in 1981, his ambitions
have been fulfilled.
Allan is Board-certified by the Florida Bar as a Specialist in Labor and Employment
Law and a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. In 2006, Allan
was named in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business as a “notable practitioner”
who is an “excellent advocate with strong ethics and an unrivalled understanding
of business.” In 2007, he earned a first tier Chambers ranking for his outstanding employment law work. Chambers described Allan as “amazingly bright” and noted that he is held out as “bringing the best of both worlds: legal acumen and superb business judgments.” He has also been selected by his peers for the 2005, 2006
and 2007 editions of The Best Lawyers in America, the nation’s definitive
guide to legal excellence. In 2005, 2006 and 2007, Allan was listed in Florida Super Lawyers, a magazine featuring the top 5% of attorneys in the state. Allan is particularly proud of his 2007 election as the President of the Academy of Florida Management Attorneys, whose membership includes only preeminent labor and employment practitioners with the highest ethical standards.
His practice is multifaceted. Much of the time he is either litigating in state
or federal court at the trial and appellate levels. He also represents employers
before administrative agencies responsible for the enforcement of the numerous
antidiscrimination laws and before the National Labor Relations Board. His experience
includes negotiating collective bargaining agreements and arbitrating contract
disputes. In addition, Allan has provided valuable day-to-day and crisis advice
to clients in a wide range of businesses, including retailers, banks, insurance companies,
the securities industry, health care, hotels, television networks, maritime
industry, a public utility, a major sports and entertainment arena, beer distributors,
manufacturing facilities and the construction industry. On any given day, the
scope of his practice could include personnel policy planning, sexual harassment,
avoiding litigation when terminating employees, union election campaigns and
employee benefit plans. Allan is a member of Proskauer’s International Labor and Employment Law Group.
Corporations also call upon Allan when their former employees engage in conduct
that violates their non-compete agreements. In that regard, Allan took a case
all the way to the Supreme Court of Florida and successfully argued that a successor
employer can enforce a non-compete agreement signed with a former employer even
when the agreement does not contain a successors and assigns clause and where
the employees have not assented to its assignment, Corporate Express Office
Products, Inc. v. Phillips, 2003 WL 1883697 (Fla. April 17, 2003).
Allan's public speaking has given him a national reputation, as well as recognition
in An International Who's Who of Management, Labor and Employment Lawyers.
His experience as a management advocate in arbitration proceedings led to his
lecturing to human resources practitioners for Cornell University's School of
Industrial and Labor Relations on the topics of "The Investigatory Grievance:
Developing Facts and Evidence," "Increasing Effectiveness in Arbitration,"
"Advanced Arbitration Skills," and "The Clash Between Management
Rights and Privacy Invasion: Drug Testing, Polygraphs and AIDS." In addition,
Allan has also been a guest lecturer for the Dispute Resolution Section of the
International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans. Even before The Americans
With Disabilities Act became effective, he lectured on the subject, "The
ADA in the Unionized Environment," before the Employment Law and Litigation
Group of Organization Resources Counselors, Inc. Allan's other noteworthy presentations
include a "Legal Update" for the Thirteenth Annual Briefing Conference
of the American Arbitration Association; a seminar on "Crafting Your Employee
Handbook" at the 47th, 48th, 49th, 50th, 51st, 52nd, 53rd, 54th, 55th,
and 56th Annual Conferences of the Society for Human Resource Management ("SHRM");
and leading roundtable discussions on The Fair Labor Standards Act and The Americans
With Disabilities Act at the Annual Conference of the Florida Association of
Postsecondary Schools and Colleges. At the 50th, 51st, 52nd, 53rd, 54th, and
55th SHRM Annual Conferences, Allan also lectured on "Being An Effective
Witness: The Underrated Essential Function of the HR Professional." In
June 1997, Allan spoke before the Palm Beach County (Fl.) Bar Association on
"Wrongful Termination Claims in Florida." During the fall of 1997,
Allan spoke in New York, Washington, Los Angeles and Boca Raton at a full-day,
jointly sponsored seminar by Proskauer Rose LLP and SHRM. His topic was "Hiring
and Firing Without Fear."
SHRM and Allan are also linked in other ways. On behalf of SHRM, Allan and
his partner, Paul Salvatore, submitted the amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme
Court in the Faragher v. City of Boca Raton case. The employer's "affirmative
defense" that was adopted by the Supreme Court in Faragher was based
on the argument made by Allan and Paul that employees who bypass an employer's
internal complaint procedure should not benefit from a strict liability standard.
In late 1998, SHRM published a book that Allan co-authored on employee leaves,
entitled Issues in Employee Leave. Allan also co-authored SHRM's amicus
brief in Chapman v. AI Transport, in which he successfully argued that
an employer's subjective impressions could be used as valid criteria in its
employment decisions.
Allan is a member of the Palm Beach County and Broward County local SHRM chapters
and has spoken at their dinner meetings on employment law topics. For 2001,
Allan was the honored recipient of the "Award for Professional Excellence"
from HRPBC. In 1997, Allan spoke at the Florida HR Conference; and at the 1998
Conference, he made the presentation to the recipient of the Human Resource
Award for Professional Excellence, sponsored by Proskauer Rose LLP. Allan presented
this award again in 1999 and then gave his witness presentation at a General
Session. In 2000, Allan gave a workshop on telecommuting both before and after
he presented the award.
In 2006, Allan presented on "The Protection of Corporate Intellectual Assets in a Mobile Economy" at the HR Florida 28th Annual Conference and Exposition.
Because of his successful role in the Faragher brief, Allan served as
a panel member at Duke Law School's "Sexual Harassment: Beyond the Myth
and Media" Fifth Annual Conference on October 9-10, 1998. His paper on
employer defenses to sexual harassment was published in the Duke Journal
of Gender Law & Policy. In June 1999, Allan was a member of the faculty
at the DRI Employment Law Seminar in Seattle and his topic was "A Double
Shot of Reality: Employment Law after the Faragher Decision."
In 2004, Allan co-authored another Supreme Court amicus brief on behalf of
SHRM. This time his arguments in the Suders case persuaded the Court
to conclude that a constructive discharge was not necessarily a tangible employment
action that would deprive an employer of the availability of the Faragher
affirmative defense.
During 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2001, Allan was part of the course faculty
for Federal Publication programs on the overlap of the ADA, FMLA and workers'
compensation, held in New York, Washington, Boca Raton, Chicago, Las Vegas,
Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, Orlando and New Orleans. In July 1999,
Allan spoke in Hilton Head, South Carolina at Federal Publication's Employment
Law Institute on the following topics: "Cutting Edge Employment Law Developments
And How They Affect Your Business"; "Preventing Employment Law Problems
& Controlling Costs When Problems Occur"; and "Hot Topics In Handling
Employees Who Can't or Won't Work." As a result of Allan's speech in October
1999 for the Florida Bar on the topic of "Initial Litigation Strategy,
Damages and Kolstad," he was presented with the CLE Award of Excellence
by the Labor and Employment Law Section of the Florida Bar. In June 2001, Allan
became a member of the Executive Board of the Labor and Employment Law Section
of the Florida Bar.
Allan's publications in the employment law arena are equally extensive. He
was the co-editor of Proskauer's three-volume work published in 1992 entitled
New York Employment Law. In August 1994, Allan became a "Corporate
Brief" columnist on labor and employment law topics for The National
Law Journal. Some of his articles include: "Most Courts Are Rejecting
the Concept of Personal Liability for Discrimination under Title VII, Resulting
in Simplified Litigation" (8/94); "Several Recent Cases Cast Doubt
on the Ability of Employers To Avoid Age Discrimination Suits by Resorting To
Release Agreements" (10/94); "Heeding an Invisible Minority"
(1/95); "In Its Bid To Decentralize Government, the New Republican Majority
Is Seeking To Overhaul New Deal-Era Labor Legislation" (2/95); "Employers
Can Limit Constructive Discharge Suits by Educating Management and Implementing
Internal Grievance Procedures" (7/3/95); "Companies Are Confounded
by the ADA's Lack of Guidance on How To Cope with Employees who Claim Mental
Illness" (9/25/95); "With Millions of Americans Telecommuting, Businesses
Must Determine How Current Laws Apply to this New Form of Work" (11/6/95);
"According to the Supreme Court, Employers May Not Refuse To Interview
Applicants Solely for Being Paid Union Organizers" (2/5/96); "The
2d Circuit Has Ruled That an Employee May Not Be Held Individually Liable for
Discriminatory Conduct under Title VII" (4/8/96); "Following the Recent
'Varity' Decision, Employers May Be Sued under ERISA for Misrepresentations
Regarding Benefits Plans" (4/22/96); "Although Laws and Courts Require
Employers To Accommodate Religious Expression in the Workplace, the Duty Has
Its Limits" (6/3/96); "May a Mandatory Arbitration Provision in an
Employment Agreement Encompass Discrimination Claims? Courts Are Split"
(10/7/96); "In Some States, Holiday Parties Raise the Specter of Employer
Liability for the Alcohol-Related Accidents Caused by Employees" (12/2/96);
"Forget the Mistletoe -- Prudent Employers Should Be On Guard against Sexual
Harassment Claims Arising from Holiday Fetes" (12/9/96); "The Supreme
Court's Ruling Permitting Same-Sex Harassment Suits Is One of Several Employment
Cases on This Term's Docket" (3/16/98); "Same-Sex Harassment"
(7/12/99), and "Employment Law -- Age Discrimination" (11/22/99).
As a result of Allan's two articles on holiday parties, Allan was interviewed
on CNN-fn by Stuart Varney, who called Allan "the man with all the answers."
Allan's article on "The 'Ten Commandments' of Employee Termination"
was published by Labor Relations Press as an introduction to its Tips To
Tackle Wrongful Termination. After the Supreme Court's decision in Robinson
v. Shell Oil, Allan had another National Law Journal article, entitled:
"In Light of Several Decisions Holding Employers Liable for Their Employee
References, Many Companies Choose Not To Give Any" (5/19/97).
Allan is also the Editor-In-Chief of a bimonthly journal published by West
Group entitled HR Advisor -- Legal & Practical Guidance, which published
its premier issue in July 1995. The September/October 1998 edition contains
Allan's article, "Faragher and Ellerth: A Victory for Human Resource
Practitioners Everywhere!" Other articles that Allan has written for HR
Advisor include: "The Application of The Fair Credit Reporting Act
to Sexual Harassment Investigations"; "Are You Prepared for the Amendments
to the Fair Credit Reporting Act?"; "Ragsdale v. Wolverine:
the Supreme Court Splits The Designation Baby"; "Sorting Out The ADA
Craziness"; "Stolen Victory? Encroachments on the Farager/Ellerth Affirmative Defense"; "Another Supreme Court Victory for HR Professionals: The Affirmative Defense Is Available for 'Constructive Discharge'"; "In FLSA Litigation, It's All About the Plaintiff's Attorney's Fees"; and "The Dark Clouds of Burlington Northern: Is there a Silver Lining?"
Allan
is frequently consulted and interviewed by business newspaper and magazine columnists
for their articles on employment law issues. His comments on the proliferation
of employment lawsuits by executives and upper management that appeared in the
cover story of the January 1997 edition of Across the Board (The Conference
Board Magazine) illustrate the national recognition Allan has built for himself
and the Proskauer labor and employment law practice.
In May 2001, Allan co-authored a book for the National Legal Center for the
Public Interest, entitled Time Off To Reflect on the Family and Medical Leave
Act. Another of his publications appeared in the Winter/Spring 2002 issue
of The Labor Lawyer. It was an article titled "Merit Pay Proposals
and Related Compensation Plans: Detroit Typographical Union v. NLRB and McClatchy
Newspapers Revisited." The article was based on a speech he made to
the ABA Committee on the Development of the Law under the NLRA. As a member
of this Committee, Allan also serves as a Chapter Editor for the BNA publication,
The Developing Labor Law.
Allan is a graduate of Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor
Relations, and Cornell Law School, where he was an Editor of the Cornell
Law Review, graduated with distinction and was a member of The Order of
the Coif.
Allan is admitted to the Bar in New York State, where he had practiced for
over 21 years. In 1995, he relocated to Proskauer's office in Boca Raton, Florida
and was admitted to the Florida Bar. There, he serves as the head of the Labor
and Employment Law Department and continues to advise clients in the areas in
which he specializes.
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