Diane Gianos Walker is the Managing Partner and a founding partner of Walker Morton. Diane has developed broad and deep expertise in complex employment law and general commercial litigation, multi-party actions, healthcare and commercial transactions.
Diane also acts as the principal business and corporate attorney for many of her clients where she counsels her clients on business formations; contract negotiations and review; mergers and acquisitions; governmental audits by the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), the Occupational Safety and Hazard Administration (OSHA) and other federal, state and local governmental agencies; business disputes and litigation. Diane has successfully litigated precedent-setting employment cases and been notably successful in securing summary disposition of employment litigation and dismissal of charges before federal and state agencies.
Diane’s litigation experience includes lead counsel designation on a host of issues. Throughout her career, Diane has successfully defended employers in a variety of employment disputes, including pattern and practice lawsuits brought by the EEOC, multi-plaintiff cases under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, wrongful termination, including lead counsel designation representing employers in lawsuits brought by the EEOC and multi-plaintiff cases under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. She has successfully defended employers in a variety of employment disputes, including wrongful termination and discrimination claims, retaliatory discharge actions, misclassification of employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act, reasonable accommodation claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), non-compete/trade secret litigation, wage and hour audits, breach of employment contracts, and tortuous interference claims.
In addition to traditional litigation matters, Diane regularly counsels employers on statutory compliance with employment statutes, affirmative action compliance programs, union avoidance techniques, collective bargaining and arbitration matters, employee handbooks, plant closings and relocations, employment contracts, and sensitive personnel policies, including drug-testing and sexual harassment, as well as other employment related issues. Diane routinely performs internal human resources audits targeting areas relative to human resources management and organizational development, including wage and hour compliance; time off and leaves; education and training; health and safety; and hiring, performance and termination.
Diane develops and reviews existing employee handbooks and management policies and procedure manuals designed to ensure compliance with state and federal statutes and regulations and to build effective employee relations and minimize or eliminate risk exposure. She has presented on a variety of employment issues and develops and conducts individual and group training sessions on topics such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the ADA, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), sexual harassment, and hiring and termination issues.