Jennifer Plagman

Partner

Chicago + 1.312.269.4107

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Jenny Plagman is a trial lawyer who represents and advises employers in a diverse range of labor and employment matters. Her practice focuses on individual and complex disputes arising under the Fair Labor Standards Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. A portion of Jenny's practice also focuses on counseling clients on human resources matters, including compensation practices, worker classification, state law compliance, employment agreements, and workplace sensitivity.

Recently, Jenny successfully defended a Fortune 1000 company in a six-day jury trial in the Eastern District of Texas. She also co-led four-day (California) and three-day (Hawaii) wage and hour bellwether arbitrations, winning each on all counts, which subsequently resolved over 300 pending arbitrations. Jenny successfully represented a global technology company in a highly contested trade secrets litigation; defended a Fortune 500 company in a federal civil rights litigation involving multiple claims of discrimination, retaliation, and Illinois Whistleblower Act violations; and defended an oil and gas company in an executive contract dispute. In addition, she conducted and counseled clients on internal investigations and company audits, drafted executive employment agreements and employee handbooks, and provided key assistance in defending large collective and class actions and National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued complaints.

Jenny is a member of the Cook County, Federal, Chicago, and Illinois Bar Associations and the National Employment Law Council. She is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Center for Conflict Resolution and the Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts.

Experience

  • McDonald's obtains dismissal after moving for summary judgment on BIPA claimsJones Day defended McDonald's Corporation against allegations that an artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML) system for automating orders at a restaurant drive-thru violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) by capturing Plaintiff's biometric information when he placed his restaurant order.
  • Fortune 1000 company wins age discrimination jury trialJones Day successfully represented a Fortune 1000 company in an age discrimination jury trial in the Eastern District of Texas.
  • McDonald’s wins summary judgment in Title VII class action matterJones Day won summary judgment for McDonald’s in a class action against McDonald’s Corporation, McDonald’s USA, and franchisee defendants alleging systemic sexual harassment under Title VII and the Michigan Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act on behalf of a class of over 100 women employees at franchisee’s restaurant based on joint employer, agency and apparent agency theories of liability.
  • McDonald’s successfully resolves groundbreaking NLRB litigationJones Day successfully represented McDonald's USA, LLC and McDonald's Restaurants of Illinois, Inc., in the largest consolidated National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) litigation matter ever and one of the most important labor cases in the United States today.
  • CITGO wins summary judgment of Illinois Whistleblower Act lawsuitJones Day secured summary judgment on behalf of CITGO Petroleum Corporation on all claims from a former employee alleging wrongful termination in violation of the Illinois Whistleblower Act, based upon allegedly raising safety concerns, as well as claims for unpaid compensation under the Illinois Wage Payment & Collection Act.
  • Advocate Aurora Health wins summary judgment, defeats class certification, and obtains dismissal in FICA refund class actionJones Day client Advocate Aurora Health won summary judgment and defeated class certification in a FICA refund class action case.
  • RotaDyne secures victory in long-running trade secret and non-compete matterJones Day secured a victory for our client RotaDyne, a portfolio company of client The Robins Group, in a long-running trade secrets and non-compete matter filed against a former employee and his new employer.
  • Advocate Health Care wins summary judgment against multiple discrimination claimsOn June 28, 2016, Jones Day obtained summary judgment for Advocate Health Care Network on nearly all of Plaintiff's discrimination claims.
  • Kraft Heinz obtains Eighth Circuit affirmation of defeat of race discrimination and sexual harassment suitJones Day successfully defeated a race discrimination and sexual harassment lawsuit on behalf of Kraft Heinz Foods Company.
  • Publix wins summary judgment on questions of FLSA regular rate calculationJones Day represented Publix Super Markets, Inc. in defense against a company-wide collective action lawsuit alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act claiming that certain bonuses and other payments were improperly excluded from the calculation of the regular rate of pay of supermarket hourly associates nationwide.
  • CareerBuilder wins denial of collective certification in FLSA caseOn July 20, 2015, Jones Day secured, for client CareerBuilder, LLC, the denial of collective certification of named plaintiffs' FLSA claims that CareerBuilder unlawfully denied sales employees overtime pay by forcing them to under-report their time worked.
  • Fortune 500 manufacturer and retailer successfully wins discrimination and whistleblower arbitrationJones Day represented a Fortune 500 manufacturer and retailer against claims for religion, disability, and national origin discrimination and retaliation, and the Illinois Whistleblower Act.
  • WHM LLC (LXR Luxury Resorts) wage-hour class action trial court win affirmed by Florida Appeals CourtOn April 16, 2015, the Fourth Circuit District Court of Appeals of Florida affirmed, in a per curiam decision, the trial court win on behalf of Jones Day client WHM LLC (LXR Luxury Resorts), and granted WHM's motion for appellate attorney's fees against the plaintiffs.
  • Nationwide hospitality company audits wage and hour practicesJones Day was hired by a nationwide hospitality company to audit its wage and hour practices in Oklahoma.
  • WHM LLC obtains summary judgment on Florida wage-hour class actionOn December 9, 2013, Jones Day prevailed on summary judgment on behalf of WHM LLC (LXR Luxury Resorts), a nationwide owner and operator of hotels, dismissing a putative wage class action for unpaid wages under the Florida Minimum Wage Law in its entirety.
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    Additional Speaking Engagements

    • April 2, 2016
      Cook County Bar Association Student Preparedness Workshop
    • April 26, 2014
      Cook County Bar Association Student Preparedness Workshop

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