Laura Pasqualone
“Laura Pasqualone is noted for her considerable experience in a wide variety of labor and employment matters. She is particularly expert in wrongful termination and non-compete work.” - Chambers USA
Laura Pasqualone is a partner in the firm’s Labor and Employment and Litigation practice groups, practicing primarily in the areas of employment law and business litigation. She regularly advises employers on compliance with a wide variety of federal, state, and local employment laws. She also provides emergency advice, preventative counseling, training, and ongoing employment guidance to human resources directors and in-house counsel. In addition, her practice consists of litigating cases involving claims of discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, and breach of contract. Laura has significant experience in cases involving the enforceability of restrictive covenants, trade secret misappropriation, and unfair competition. She regularly presents on employment law “hot topics” to hundreds of national and international employers and human resources representatives.
Employment Litigation and Administrative Proceedings
Laura defends clients in litigation against claims brought under the Family and Medical Leave Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. She has represented clients in both federal and state court, in arbitration, before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Arizona Civil Rights Division, and the Arizona Office of Administrative Hearings.
Recently, Laura defended a national employer as first chair in a case alleging constructive discharge and age discrimination. After moving for summary judgment, the employee agreed to walk away from the case and voluntarily dismiss all claims with prejudice. She also recently won summary judgment in U.S. district court on all claims by a former employee alleging retaliation, gender, and disability discrimination.
Restrictive Covenants
Laura has significant experience in cases involving the enforceability of restrictive covenants, trade secret misappropriation, unfair competition, and breach of contract. In such cases, she often assists clients in proceedings in which temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions are sought. She also assists employers and businesses in drafting employment contracts, including non-compete and non-solicitation provisions for nationwide and international clients.
Employment Law Counseling
Laura takes a proactive approach to counseling employers about ways to avoid costly litigation, manage employee performance, and make practical human resources decisions to help avoid or minimize wrongful termination, discrimination, disability, and other avoidable claims. She also helps her clients prepare and update employee handbooks, create social media usage policies, and implement effective performance management policies. In addition, she has conducted complex internal investigations for large public and private employers.
Arizona’s Medical Marijuana Act
In addition to her broad human resources consulting experience, Laura regularly advises employers regarding compliance with Arizona’s Medical Marijuana Act. She assists employers both in drafting drug and alcohol testing policies that are compliant with Arizona law, as well as advising employers on discipline and termination issues involving medical marijuana use.
Arizona’s Paid Sick Leave Statute
Laura assists clients in maintaining compliance with Arizona’s Paid Sick Leave statute. She has drafted dozens of policies for employers to ensure compliance. She has also published several articles on the topic and was quoted in the Arizona Republic regarding the statute’s enactment.
Before joining Lewis Roca, Laura served as a law clerk for the Honorable Justice A. John Pelander at the Arizona Supreme Court. She also served as an extern for the Honorable Judge Earl H. Carroll at the United States District Court for the District of Arizona.
Personal Approach
Versatile and pragmatic in her approach, Laura is skilled at analyzing legal issues, anticipating potential risks, and developing rapid plans of action that provide solutions to her clients’ current and future challenges. As a driven problem solver, Laura applies a results-oriented, client-centric approach to each and every matter she is entrusted with by her clients. In her free time, Laura enjoys running, hiking the Arizona trails, and spending time with her family.
More About Laura Pasqualone
Education
- J.D., magna cum laude, University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law, Order of the Coif, 2010
- B.A., summa cum laude, Arizona State University, 2006
Bar Admissions
- Arizona, 2011
Community
- Litigation Counsel of America, Fellow
- Employment Law Alliance, Co-chair of Business Development for North America. The Employment Law Alliance is the world's largest network of labor and employment lawyers, rated in Chambers USA
- Employment Law Alliance – Charter 100, Arizona Chapter
- Arizona Law Review, University of Arizona James E Rogers College of Law, Research Editor, 2009-2010
- Lorna Lockwood Inn of Court, Member
Representative Matters
- Defended national employer as first chair in a case alleging constructive discharge and age discrimination. After moving for summary judgment, plaintiff agreed to walk away from the case and voluntarily dismiss all claims with prejudice.
- Won summary judgment in U.S. district court on all claims by former employee alleging retaliation, gender, and disability discrimination.
- Defended organ procurement organization in a case alleging dozens of causes of action. After successfully obtaining dismissal of all but one tort claim at the motion to dismiss stage, won summary judgment on remaining claim. Because offers of judgment were made in the case, the client was entitled to expert fees and costs. The trial court decision was affirmed on appeal with an additional award of costs.
- Negotiated nominal settlement on behalf of employer in a case alleging sexual harassment by former employee.
- Negotiated nominal settlements on behalf of employers in cases alleging age, sex, and race discrimination.
- Negotiated nominal settlement for nationwide employer after filing motion for summary judgment on claim by former employee alleging termination in retaliation for seeking workers’ compensation.
- Drafted customized confidentiality, non-solicitation and non-competition agreements for nationwide employer involving 41 state agreements for multiple levels of executive, director, and sales staff positions.
- Defended school in action for preliminary injunction brought by student, resulting in complete dismissal of lawsuit and award of lawyers’ fees and costs for client.
Honors & Recognitions
- The Best Lawyers in America, Litigation - Labor and Employment, 2024-2025
- Top Lawyers, Phoenix Magazine, 2024
- Southwest Super Lawyers, Rising Star, Employment Litigation, 2018-2021, Employment Litigation: Defense, 2022-2023
- Chambers USA, Labor and Employment, 2022-2024
- Benchmark Litigation – Labor and Employment Law Star, 2020-2025
- John P. Frank Pro Bono Awards Luncheon, Recognized for Commitment Pro Bono Service
Clerkships
- Honorable Justice A. John Pelander, Arizona Supreme Court
News
Publications
Client Alerts
Blog Posts
- , Lewis Roca Blog, 07/12/2022
- , Lewis Roca Blog, 12/22/2020
- , Lewis Roca Blog, 12/18/2020
- Lewis Roca Blog, 09/24/2020
- , Lewis Roca Blog, 08/26/2020
- , Lewis Roca Blog, 03/10/2020
Events
- Presenter, "Creating a More Diverse and Inclusive Workplace in 2022 and Beyond," Outdoor Industry Association, 2022
- Podcast Guest, "411: Travel Tuesdays: Doing Business in Arizona," Employment Matters Podcast, Employment Law Alliance (ELA), July 2022
- Presenter, "Year in Review Employment Law Webinar," Employment Law Alliance, January 2021
- Podcast Guest, "Navigating the Legal Risks as Employers Prepare for a Possible COVID-19 Vaccine," Employment Law Alliance (ELA) Podcast, September 2020
- Presenter, "Coronavirus and the Workplace: The North American Experience," Employment Law Alliance, March 2020
- Webinar Co-presenter, "Managing the Workplace in a Pandemic: Tips for Employers to Survive the Era of COVID-19," Tempe Chamber of Commerce, Aug. 25, 2020
- Co-presenter, "Coronavirus and the Workplace: The North American Experience," Employment Law Alliance (ELA), March 2020
- Co-presenter, "What Human Resource Managers Need to Know About Restrictive Covenants (But Did Not Want to Pay a Lawyer to Ask!)," Arizona Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM Employment Law & Legislative Conference), 2019
- Co-presenter, "How to Conduct Legal, Effective, and Fair Internal Investigations," Association of Corporate Counsel, 2017
- Co-presenter, "Arizona Update and Multijurisdictional Issues Involving Restrictive Covenants," Association of Corporate Counsel, 2016
- Co-presenter, "Avoiding the Weeds In Complying with Arizona’s Medical Marijuana Act," Society for Human Resources Management of Greater Tucson: Employment Law Update, 2014
- Co-presenter, "Litigating Restrictive Covenants," Legal Education Boot Camp: All-Day CLE, May 2013
- Presenter, "Statutory and Common Law Employment Claims," ASU College of Law CLE: Established and Emerging Trends in Employment Litigation, November 2012
- Honors & Recognitions | 10/3/2024
- Press Release | 09/10/2024
- Honors & Recognitions | 08/15/2024