Lauren B. Harris

Lauren Harris brings a strong background in litigation to her employment law practice. She has represented clients in a variety of industries, ranging from health care to non-profit organizations, in state and federal employment discrimination charges and lawsuits, professional malpractice actions and business contract disputes. Lauren has litigated and managed multifaceted cases with complex discovery issues and has extensive hearing experience. Among her successes is the defense of a health care employer in a Title VII gender discrimination action filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri granted summary judgment in favor of the employer, and the U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit, upheld that decision.

In addition to her litigation practice, Lauren guides her clients through the legal issues involved in employee recruiting, hiring, job classifications, promotions, transfers, demotions, discipline, and terminations. She conducts internal investigations for businesses when there are allegations of violations of the law, codes of conduct, or other policies that rise to the level of having an outside employment lawyer serve as the investigator.

Lauren writes and revises employee handbooks, restrictive covenants, separation agreements and other documents to ensure that her clients are fully protected under the law. She also assists employers with human resources and management training and day-to-day advice on a variety of employment issues. Lauren has helped several employers perform intensive human resources process and compliance audits and helped craft workable solutions that are compliant with the law and easy to navigate for employers.

Lauren has extensive experience working with public and private educational institutions and appreciates the nuances that come with the academic setting. Lauren assists with internal investigations involving potential violations of Title IX, Title VII, ADA 504, ethical and equal employment opportunity concerns. She also assists educational institutions with the day-to-day issues that arise when working with unionized workforces and defends her clients in disciplinary and termination grievance hearings.

Lauren serves on the firm’s Cortex Team, which supports entrepreneurs and the wider innovation community.  She is passionate about helping small start-up businesses strategically grow and works closely with clients to anticipate and address the legal issues that come with that growth.