Rick Etter is a Shareholder at Ogletree Deakins' Pittsburgh office. Rick is an experienced counselor and trial attorney who works collaboratively with in-house counsel, human resources professionals, and company executives to help employers understand and navigate the ever-changing framework of federal, state, and local workplace laws and regulations. Rick’s practical, proactive approach to solving workplace problems enables employers to stay in compliance and avoid litigation while also achieving their organizational and business goals.

Because litigation is not always avoidable, Rick is regularly called upon to represent employers as lead counsel in federal and state court litigation (including class and collective actions), commercial and labor arbitrations, and administrative investigations and proceedings (including before the DOL, EEOC, and PHRC).  His litigation practice focuses on defending employers in wage and hour collective and class actions, ADA accessibility class actions, single and multi-plaintiff discrimination and retaliation cases, and actions involving claims of breach of restrictive covenants, tortious interference, unfair competition, breach of duty of loyalty, or trade secret misappropriation.  Rick also regularly counsels colleges and universities on faculty, staff, and student accommodation issues.

Rick represents employers in an array of industries, including financial services, healthcare, higher education, energy, oil and gas, retail, manufacturing, and transportation and logistics.  Regardless of the industry, Rick considers each client’s organizational and business goals and the market and regulatory environment in which they operate.