Robert W. Pritchard is co-chair of the firm’s Wage and Hour Practice Group. He represents employers in complex wage and hour litigation, with an emphasis on class, collective and hybrid actions, in state and federal courts throughout the United States. In addition, Rob counsels employers on wage and hour compliance, audits payroll practices and evaluates classification determinations. Rob has successfully defended employers in jury trials involving alleged misclassification of employees, as well as alleged nonexempt pay practice violations. Rob is a founding member of the firm’s Strategic Review Committee, which provides guidance to class and collective action case teams throughout the firm. In 2022, Rob was named to The BTI Consulting Group’s Client Service All-Stars, the second time he received this recognition for his dedication to outstanding client service.
Early in his career, Rob served as a law clerk for the Hon. Carol Los Mansmann, Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Rob’s appellate practice includes oral arguments in wage and hour cases at four U.S. Courts of Appeals and four state Supreme Courts. Rob’s appellate successes include:
- Representing a health and nutrition retail company before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, which upheld the right of employers to use of the fluctuating workweek method of calculating overtime even when employees are also paid variable incentive compensation.
- Representing a leading culinary and hospitality company before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which upheld the application of the amusement or recreational services exemption to concessionaires at sports stadiums.
- Representing a global technology platform before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which upheld the settlement of a conditionally-certified nationwide collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act over the objections of an opt-in plaintiff, clarifying that traditional class action rules do not apply to the settlement of an FLSA collective action.
- Representing a leading online and mobile delivery marketplace before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, which held that its drivers were not “transportation workers” exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act and were therefore subject to binding individual arbitration.
As the Pennsylvania liaison for Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute, Rob focuses on legislative and regulatory developments within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In 2020, Rob spoke at a hearing of the Pennsylvania Independent Regulatory Review Committee on rules issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry to amend regulations pertaining to overtime. Rob authors comments to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry on proposed regulations, including in 2021 on proposed regulations pertaining to the tip credit and the regular rate, and in 2018 on proposed regulations pertaining to overtime exemptions. In 2016, Rob spoke before a Joint Hearing of the Pennsylvania Senate Appropriations and Labor and Industry Committees on the impact of the U.S. Department of Labor’s overtime rules on Pennsylvania employers and proposed amendments to the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act.
