Edward “Eddie” C. Young is a senior counsel in the Labor & Employment Law Department and a member of the following Firm practice groups: Restrictive Covenants & Trade Secrets; Discrimination, Harassment & Title VII; and Whistleblowing & Retaliation.
Eddie represents employers in all aspects of employment law, with a concentration on litigating complex employment disputes of all types before federal and state courts throughout the country, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, state and local human rights commissions and arbitral tribunals (e.g., FINRA and AAA). In particular, Eddie has successfully litigated employment-related disputes alleging breach of non-compete agreements, theft of trade secrets, discrimination, sexual harassment, whistleblower retaliation, wage and hour violations, including employee misclassification claims, breach of contract, defamation, fraud and other business-related torts. Eddie has obtained a world-wide injunction to enforce a client’s non-competition restriction on a former executive, successfully defended a client through summary judgment and appeal against retaliation claims brought by a former General Counsel, represented Fortune 500 companies in defense of high-profile harassment claims associated with the #metoo movement, and provided representation to several professional sports leagues. He also has significant appellate experience, including successfully representing clients before the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the First, Second and Seventh Circuits, as well as before the United States Supreme Court. Eddie often draws on his litigation experience to help clients avoid the courtroom by effectuating positive change in the workplace through impactful training, counseling and developing robust employment policies.
Working in a wide range of industries, Eddie represented clients in food services, financial services, medical devices, telecommunications, higher education, sports, retail, real estate and others.
Eddie has been recognized as “One to Watch” by Best Lawyers in America since 2021 and as a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers since 2017. He also regularly advises clients, writes and speaks on cutting-edge legal issues, including the use of Artificial Intelligence in the workplace, and legal issues arising from the collection and use of employee biometric information.
Eddie maintains an active pro bono practice, including on-going representation of a certified class of approximately 65,000 visually disabled Chicagoans in litigation challenging the City’s lack of accessible pedestrian crosswalks. Eddie is also a member of the Firm’s Pro-Bono Committee and is a three-time recipient of the Firm’s “Golden Gavel” award for his significant pro bono contributions.
Prior to joining Proskauer, Eddie was a cum laude graduate from Loyola University Chicago School of Law. He also obtained a Master’s Degree in Human Resources and Industrial Relations from Loyola University Chicago Graduate School of Business. He began his practice at a national management-side employment law firm, and has also worked in the corporate human resources department of a national tax consulting firm and as a Fellow with the Illinois Human Rights Commission.
Education
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Loyola University Chicago School of Law, J.D.
cum laude
Staff Editor, Annals of Health Law
Wagner Labor & Employment Law Moot Court National Semi-Finalist
CALI Award for Legal Writing II and Client Counseling
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Loyola University Chicago, M.S., Human Resources and Industrial Relations
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, B.A., Political Science
Admissions & Qualifications
- Illinois
Court Admissions
- U.S. Supreme Court
- U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
- Illinois Supreme Court
- U.S. District Court, Illinois, Northern District
- U.S. District Court, Illinois, Central District
- U.S. District Court, Michigan, Eastern District
- U.S. District Court, Wisconsin, Eastern District
Memberships
Illinois Bar Association
American Bar Association
Awards & Recognition
Illinois Super Lawyers "Rising Star" 2017-2023
Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch 2021-2023
Matters
Eddie has represented employers in many important trial court and appellate cases, including:
- Provided representation to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as amicus curiae before the United States Supreme Court regarding the scope of the Dodd-Frank Act’s whistleblower anti-retaliation provision
- Fresenius Kabi v. Tyagi, et al., (N.D. Ill.) (obtained a world-wide temporary restraining order against the former head of research and development based on threatened misappropriation of trade secrets)
- Cage v. Harper, et al., 42 F.4th 734 (7th Cir.) (affirming order granting summary judgment on denial of due process and whistleblower retaliation claims brought by former general counsel)
- Reed, et al. v. Freedom Mortgage Corp., 869 F.3d 543 (7th Cir.) (affirming order granting summary judgment on employment discrimination claims)
- Tank v. T-Mobile USA, 758 F.3d 800 (7th Cir.) (affirming order granting summary judgment in action alleging race and national origin discrimination, hostile work environment and retaliation)
- Rimini v. J.P. Morgan Securities (1st Cir.) (affirming dismissal of SOX whistleblower claim)
- Rimini v. J.P. Morgan Chase (2nd Cir.) (affirming dismissal of SOX whistleblower claim)
- Rodriguez, et al. v. Sprint Corporation, et al. (N.D. Ill.) (defense of putative nationwide Fair Credit Reporting Act class action)
- Schwartz, et al. v. UBS Financial Services (N.D. Ill.) (defense of putative nationwide Fair Credit Reporting Act class action)
- McShane v. Reichl, et al., (Cook County, IL) (defense of qui tam claims under Chicago False Claims Act); McShane v. Reichl, et al.(defense of qui tam claims under Illinois False Claims Act)
- Victoria Guster-Hines et al. v. McDonald’s USA et al., (N.D. Ill.) (defense of discrimination, retaliation and hostile work environment claims in multi-plaintiff action)