Frank Eugene Hamilton III

Muchof my practice involves advice and counseling to labor organizations ratherthan litigation, but we have been involved in substantial litigation, includingdefending law suits under ERISA against Union trustees, numerous casesinvolving employees, involving employment discrimination, representing  the union crew members of the vessel Capricorn,which was involved with the collision with the Coast Guard vessel Blackthorn,in Tampa Bay, in connection with a joint Coast Guard/NTSB investigation.  We were generally successful in that case,even though it involved sinking of the Blackthorn and the death ofseveral members of the Coast Guard vessel, in that the fault for the collisiongenerally rested elsewhere. 

Ihave also been involved in several cases of significance in the development ofthe labor laws, such as one of the “federal enclave” cases as to whether theFlorida “right to work” statutes applied at portions of the Space Center inFlorida; whether retaliation for seeking to obtain or retain benefits from anemployee benefit welfare plan was protected under ERISA, and some of thedeveloping case law as to perception of disability under the ADA.