Kevin E. Vance, P.A.

Representative Matters

• Successfully defended nationwide funeral home company in action seeking declaratory relief as to meaning of contractual language, and successfully prosecuted counterclaims for breach of contract and declaratory relief. Pershing Industries, Inc. v. StoneMor Florida Subsidiary, LLC, Case No. 2020-6945-CA-01 (11th Judicial Circuit, Miami-Dade County, Florida 2021).

• Successfully represented driving school in enforcing non-competition agreement against former employee who opened competing school. Preliminary Injunction affirmed on appeal. Kertesz v. Commercial Driver’s License School Inc., 303 So.3d 542 (Fla. 3d DCA 2020).

• Represented international luxury hotel company in employment discrimination/retaliation arbitration. The arbitrator decided in favor of the hotel on all claims. (American Arbitration Association 2017).

• Represented nationwide funeral home company in breach of employment contract suit brought by top executive. The arbitrator decided in favor of the funeral home company on the breach of employment contract claim. (American Arbitration Association 2018).

• Represented a healthcare provider in an Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) action brought by a former high-level finance department employee. The court dismissed the case, with prejudice, on the grounds of res judicata. Kardys v. Leon Medical Centers, Inc. (S.D. Fla. 2012).
• Represented a diagnostic testing provider in a Title VII and Florida Civil Rights Act action. The plaintiff claimed she was terminated in retaliation for her alleged complaints about race discrimination. The court granted summary judgment for the company. Butts v. Ameripath, Inc., 794 F.Supp.2d 1277 (S.D. Fla. 2011).
• Represented a diagnostic-testing provider in an action brought under the Florida Whistleblower's Act by a plaintiff who claimed that he was terminated in retaliation for lodging an OSHA complaint. The court granted summary judgment for the company. Trussell v. Quest Diagnostics, Inc., 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 58729 (M.D. Fla. 2010).
• Represented a diagnostic-testing provider in an action brought under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act and various state laws by a plaintiff who alleged that the company failed to reasonably accommodate her disabilities. The court dismissed all but the ADA claim, which was settled for a small sum. Gutman v. Quest Diagnostics Clinical Laboratories, Inc., 707 F. Supp. 2d 1327 (S.D. Fla. 2010).
• Represented a motorcoach-services provider in a collective action brought by 63 plaintiffs for violations of the overtime and minimum-wage provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, with four of the plaintiffs alleging violations of the Florida Whistleblower Act. On defendant's motion for summary judgment, the court dismissed 62 of the plaintiffs' minimum wage claims, 48 of the overtime claims, and all four of the whistleblower claims. Walters v. American Coach Lines of Miami, 569 F. Supp. 2d 1270 (S.D. Fla. 2008), aff'd, 575 F.3d 1221 (11th Cir. 2009).
• Represented a transportation-services company in a collective action brought initially by 165 bus drivers under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Several plaintiffs withdrew from the action, and the court struck the opt-in notices of 126 plaintiffs who failed to participate in discovery. The company subsequently settled with the remaining 35 plaintiffs. Pluviose v. American Coach Lines of Orlando, Inc. (M.D. Fla. 2009).
• Represented a life insurance company in a breach-of-contract action brought against former employees who had breached their severance agreements by filing employment lawsuits in Brazil. The Florida Third District Court of Appeal reversed the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendants and ordered that summary judgment be entered for the company. AXA Equitable Life Insurance Co. v. Gelpi, 12 So. 3d 783 (Fla. 3d Dist. Ct. App. 2009).
• Represented a nonprofit organization in an age-discrimination action. The plaintiff and two witnesses testified during depositions that when the chief executive had fired plaintiff, he had told her that he needed someone younger. The district court granted summary judgment for defendant. Mora v. Jackson Memorial Foundation, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 104072 (S.D. Fla. 2008).

Areas of Practice

• Labor and Employment Law
• Employment Litigation
• Commercial/Business Litigation
• Labor Management Relations

Admissions

• Florida
• Supreme Court of the United States
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
• U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio

Education

• University of Cincinnati College of Law, J.D., 1998
• Vanderbilt University, B.A., 1995

Experience

• Duane Morris LLP
  - Partner, 2010-present
• Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.
  - Associate, 2005-2008
  - Partner, 2009-2010
• Greenspoon Marder, P.A.
  -Associate, 2003-2005

Professional Activities

• Academy of Florida Management Attorneys (AFMA), 2012-present
  - Board of Directors, 2021-present
  - President, 2024

• American Employment Law Council, Member

• Board of Directors, Sunrise Community, Inc.,
  -Interim Chairman, 2016
  -Vice Chair, 2019-present 
• Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, Human Resources Committee
  - Chairman, 2016-2017
  - Vice Chair, 2014-2015
• Human Resource Association of Broward County, Legislative Affairs Director, 2013-2014
• American Bar Association, Labor and Employment Law Section
• The Florida Bar, Labor and Employment Section
• Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce
• Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Miami, 2009-2010 Class

• City of Lighthouse Point (Florida) Personnel Appeals Board, 2022-2024

Honors and Awards

• Listed in Best Lawyers in America, 2021-2024

• Listed in Chambers USA: America's Leading Business Lawyers, 2017-2023

• Board Certified in Labor and Employment Law, The Florida Bar Board of Legal Specialization and Education
• AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell

Selected Publications

• Co-author, "Florida Enacts Mandatory E-Verify as Part of New Immigration Law," Duane Morris Alert, May 15, 2023
• Co-author, "New Florida Law Addresses Employee Training in the Workplace," Duane Morris Alert, May 10, 2022
• Co-author, "Florida Law Limits Employer Vaccine Mandates," Duane Morris Alert, November 22, 2021
• Co-author, "Appeals Court Finds Grocer's Website Did Not Violate Americans with Disabilities Act," Duane Morris Alert, April 20, 2021
• Co-author, "Florida Voters Vote to Raise Minimum Wage to $15 and Beyond," Duane Morris Alert, November 5, 2020
• Co-author, "Florida Initiates Phase 1 of Reopening, with South Florida Counties Following a Different Track," Duane Morris Alert, May 4, 2020
• Co-author, "Florida Governor Clarifies Terms of First Statewide Safer-at-Home Order," Duane Morris Alert, April 6, 2020
• Co-author, "Department of Labor Issues Regulations to Help Implement the Families First Coronavirus Response Act," Duane Morris Alert, April 3, 2020
• Co-author, "Florida Governor Issues Statewide Order Restricting Activities Outside the Home," Duane Morris Alert, April 2, 2020
• Co-author, "Supreme Court Passes on Challenge to Extension of Title III to Websites and Mobile Apps," Duane Morris Alert, October 10, 2019

• Co-author, "Labor Department Increases Minimum Salaries Required to Meet FLSA Exemptions," Duane Morris Alert, September 25, 2019

• Co-author, "Dept. of Labor Proposes to Increase Minimum Salaries Required to Meet FLSA Exemptions," Duane Morris Alert, March 15, 2019

• Author, "Relationships With Referral Sources May Be Protectable Under Florida's Non-Compete Law," Duane Morris Alert, September 19, 2017
• Author, "Using Payroll Cards To Pay Employees' Wages," Law360, December 6, 2016
• Co-author, "U.S. Supreme Court Endorses Employer Efforts to 'Pick Off' Named Plaintiff in FLSA Collective Action, but Declines to Resolve Circuit Split Regarding Mootness Issue, Duane Morris Alert, April 22, 2013

Media Hits

• Quoted, "Duane Morris Appoints New MP in Boca Raton Amid Tech, Health Care Expansion," Daily Business Review, December 17, 2021
• Quoted, "Duane Morris Taps New Managing Partner In Fla. Shop," Law360, December 17, 2021
• Quoted, "Medical Marijuana: What Lies Ahead for the Sunshine State?" South Florida Legal Guide, 2016 Financial Edition

Selected Speaking Engagements

• Speaker, "Southern States Legal Update," Duane Morris Institute (DMi), Webinar, March 21, 2023

• Speaker, "Ethical Considerations in Workplace Investigations," The Seminar Group's Twelfth Annual South Florida Premier Labor and Employment Law Conference, Miami, Florida, August 24, 2022

• Speaker, "State of the Workplace in 2021: Reopening in a Partially Vaccinated Environment and the New Administration," Duane Morris LLP, Webinar, May 19, 2021
• Speaker, "Best Practices for Protecting Your Business from Class and Collective Actions and Unfair Competition," The New Reality of Workplace Law and Practice in the COVID-19 Era, Duane Morris LLP, Webinar, October 28, 2020
• Special Guest, "Legal Aspects of Coronavirus," South Florida Bank Leader's Conference Call, May 13, 2020
• Moderator, "Intellectual Property: Have You Protected Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset?" Session Six in the Doing Business in South Florida Roundtable Series, Duane Morris LLP, Boca Raton, Florida, December 11, 2019

• Speaker, "Data Privacy and Security: How to Protect Your Business and Workplace," Session Three in the Doing Business in South Florida Roundtable Series, Duane Morris LLP, Boca Raton, Florida, June 12, 2019

• Presenter, "Cannabis 104: Marijuana in the Workplace – What Employers Need to Know," The Duane Morris Cannabis Webinar Series, April 17, 2018 (video replay)

• Moderator, "HR/Talent Acquisition Panel," South Florida Association for Financial Professionals (SFAFP), February 22, 2017
• Speaker, "USERRA," Florida Bar 17th Labor and Employment Law Annual Update and Certification Review, January 27, 2017
• Speaker, "What's on the EEOC's 2015 Agenda," Human Resource Association of Broward County's annual "Legal Update" seminar, May 1, 2015
• Speaker, "The Agencies Attack! An Analysis of the EEOC's Recent Guideline on the Use of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions & Recent NLRB Decisions Affecting Non-Union Employees," ACCA-SFL's Fourth Annual CLE Conference, Hollywood, Florida, September 20, 2013
• Speaker, "Social Network, Discovery Issues and Ethical Concerns," The Seminar Group's Third Annual South Florida Premier Labor and Employment Law Conference, Miami, Florida, September 19, 2013
• Speaker, "I'm a Whistleblower — You Can't Fire Me," Greater Miami Society for Human Resource Management Legal Update, Miami, Florida, September 12, 2013
• Speaker, "Social Network, Discovery Issues and Ethical Concerns," The Seminar Group's Second Annual South Florida Premier Labor and Employment Law Conference, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, September 20, 2012
• Speaker, "Pay Now or Pay Later - FLSA Update," Human Resources Association of Broward County's Legal Seminar, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, April 27, 2012
• Speaker, "Legal Update," Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce's HR Insights 2012 Conference, Miami, Florida, March 29, 2012
• Speaker, "Social Network, Discovery Issues and Ethical Concerns," The Seminar Group's South Florida Premier Labor and Employment Law Conference, Miami, Florida, September 22, 2011
• Speaker, "Social Media-Pitfalls and Opportunities," Greater Miami Society for Human Resource Management Legal Update, Miami, Florida, September 12, 2011