Overview

Sean Crotty is a business-minded employment law counselor, helping clients address situations in a practical way to avoid liability under the myriad of federal, state, and local employment and labor laws. He also serves as lead counsel in lawsuits involving employment, wage-and-hour, non-compete, and trade secret claims.

  • Provides preventative, forward-thinking counseling and policies to help employers avoid liability for discrimination, harassment, and retaliation
  • Serves as primary labor and employment counsel on multimillion-dollar corporate mergers and acquisitions
  • Helps private and publicly-traded clients navigate high-level executive separations
  • Negotiates executive employment and severance agreements
  • Defends employers in discrimination and other lawsuits brought under federal and state law, including the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Persons with Disabilities Civil Rights Act, the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, the Whistleblowers Protection Act, the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, Title VII, and the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act
  • Counsels national and international companies on how to establish employee operations in Michigan
  • Guides clients in structuring both large- and small-scale workforce reductions

Services

Practice Areas

Industries

Experience

Representative Matters

  • Represented automotive supplier before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, which affirmed the dismissal of a USERRA claim based on a shortened contractual limitations period; Oswald v. BAE Industries, Inc., 2012 WL 1700704 (6th Cir. 2012)
  • Prevailed on appeal on behalf of an automotive die manufacturer; upholding the NLRB’s determination that an employee who falsified another employee’s involvement in a complaint to management may be lawfully discharged; UAW v. NLRB and Ogihara Corp., 514 F.3d 574 (6th Cir. 2008)
  • Defended and achieved favorable settlement of a nationwide collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act involving thousands of putative class members
  • Obtained temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions against a variety of types of employees, including mortgage brokers, event emcees, engineers, and sales representatives based on restrictive covenant and trade secret claims
  • Defended and achieved favorable settlement of seven-figure sales representative commission lawsuit
  • Obtained multimillion-dollar settlement in a vendor dispute with a municipal entity
  • Obtained summary judgment and awarded costs in two FMLA interference and retaliation cases in a Michigan federal court
  • Obtained peremptory reversal of adverse Wayne County Circuit Court decision, establishing that a casino was not liable when a valet driver engaged in an altercation with a customer
  • Obtained summary disposition of hybrid FMLA and race harassment claim in Macomb County Circuit Court
  • Obtained summary judgment in a California federal court of a disability discrimination claims based on the employee’s failure to timely arbitrate the claim under a collective bargaining agreement
  • Successfully defended against union organizing efforts for a restaurant chain

Prior Experience

  • Hertz, Schram & Saretsky P.C., Associate, 2003-2004
  • United States Marine Corps Reserves, 1996-2004

Clerkships

  • Justice Marilyn Kelly, Michigan Supreme Court, Law Clerk, 2002-2003

Credentials

Education

Admissions

Court Admissions

Recognition

Awards

  • Listed in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business, 2019-2023
    • Recognized Practitioner in the field of Labor & Employment
      • "Department chair Sean Crotty's practice covers both contentious and noncontentious employment matters. He defends employers against claims brought under federal and state laws as well as providing compliance and due diligence advice." One client adds, "Sean is great to work with."
      • Clients describe Sean as “prompt, courteous and acts as a partner to our business."
  • Crain's Detroit Business, 2023
    • Recognized as a Notable Leader in Employment & Labor Law
  • Michigan Super Lawyers, 2020-2023
    • Recognized as a Rising Star, 2008-2017
  • DBusiness, Top Lawyers, 2016
  • The Best Lawyers in America, 2024
    • Recognized in practice areas of Employment Law - Management and Litigation - Labor and Employment

Professional & Community Involvement

Society for Human Resource Management, Member

State Bar of Michigan

  • Labor and Employment Law Section
  • Civil Procedure and Courts Committee, Member, 2010-2016

Frequent Presenter – Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program

News & Insights

News

Events

  • What the New Administration and Congress Mean for Labor Relations: Preparing for the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) and the New NLRB
    Event | |
  • Handbook Do's and Don'ts
    Event

Alerts

Publications

Blog Posts

From Chambers USA:

Clients describe Sean as “prompt, courteous and acts as a partner to our business."

Jump to Page

Necessary Cookies

Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions.

Analytical Cookies

Analytical cookies help us improve our website by collecting and reporting information on its usage. We access and process information from these cookies at an aggregate level.