Kristina A.Yost

Partner

New York + 1.212.326.3816

Kristina Yost has a decade of experience defending significant employment litigation and counseling employers on compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws. In particular, she has extensive experience defending companies in wage and hour class actions, including hybrid Fair Labor Standards Act and Rule 23 state law class claims. She also has defended companies in single and multiplaintiff Title VII, Americans with Disabilities Act, Fair Housing Act, and other discrimination matters, including in Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and other agency investigations.

In addition, Kristina counsels clients on a variety of federal, state, and local employment laws, including the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN), Title VII, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, ADA, the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act, FLSA, New York State and City Human Rights laws, and local paid sick leave and predictive scheduling laws.

Kristina has written and spoken on a variety of topics and is coauthor with Samuel Estreicher of "Measuring the Value of Employment Class and Collective Action Settlements: A Preliminary Assessment," 6 J. Empirical Legal Stud. 768 (December 2009). She also maintains an active pro bono practice counseling nonprofit companies in all areas of labor and employment law.

Experience

  • Pret A Manger successfully limits scope of notice in FLSA collective actionJones Day represents Pret A Manger (USA) Limited in a putative class and collective action matter involving claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") and New York Labor Law ("NYLL") for unpaid overtime and alleged unlawful tip pooling, among other claims.
  • Memorial Sloan-Kettering wins dismissal of national origin discrimination and retaliation claims at Second CircuitJones Day obtained dismissal of a former employee's discrimination and retaliation claims on behalf of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
  • Regional transportation company audits for wage-hour issuesJones Day was retained to perform an audit of certain wage-hour issues at a regional transportation company, including whether several different types of drivers were properly classified as exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act and applicable state law under the motor carrier exemption and complex regular rate issues.
  • Bloomberg wins dismissal in well-publicized pregnancy discrimination case brought by EEOCJones Day successfully defended Bloomberg, L.P. in a company-wide national and international discrimination and retaliation class action case brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that alleged that Bloomberg engaged in a pattern or practice of pregnancy discrimination by, among other things, reducing the pay of pregnant women and women who took maternity leave.
  • Organic Avenue defends against multi-plaintiff discrimination claimsJones Day represented Organic Avenue LLC in defending two related discrimination actions by three former employees.
  • Pret A Manger defends against statewide FLSA collective action on behalf of all current and former Managers In TrainingJones Day was retained by Pret A Manger (USA) Ltd. to defend the company in a lawsuit brought by a former employee alleging that he and a class of current and former Managers in Training were misclassified as exempt from federal and state overtime laws.
  • Society for Human Resources Management files amicus brief in case before NLRBJones Day prepared and filed an amicus brief in D.R. Horton, Inc. and Michael Cuda, NLRB Case No. 12-CA-25764, on behalf of The Equal Employment Advisory Council, The HR Policy Association, The Society for Human Resource Management, The California Employment Law Council, and Employers Group in Support of the Respondent Employer regarding whether an employer can preclude class action grievances from being filed and processed through a mandatory arbitration agreement.
  • New York City area hospitals and nursing homes win arbitration respecting nurses' health benefits coverageOn June 20, 2011, Jones Day lawyers achieved an important victory for 41 New York City area hospitals and nursing homes, as Arbitrator George Nicolau issued a binding arbitration award ordering the Trustees of the New York State Nurses Association Benefit Fund (NYSNA Fund) to make wide-ranging changes in the Fund's health benefits program.
  • Jefferies acts as initial purchaser in $125 million Rule 144A and Regulation S offering by Iracore International HoldingsJones Day advised Jefferies LLC, as initial purchaser and sole book-running manager, in connection with the issuance of $125 million of 9.500% Senior Secured Notes due 2018 in a Rule 144A and Regulation S offering by Iracore International Holdings, Inc., a developer and manufacturer of elastomeric coating and buffering solutions.
  • Speaking Engagements

    • September 2014
      2014 Labor & Employment Seminar - New York
    • February 2014
      The Proposed New NLRB Rules for Union Elections and What Else to Expect from the New Board