Charles V Firth

Charlie's employment law expertise is broad, as he has successfully represented clients in matters involving trade secrets, non-competes, shareholder disputes, federal and state Fair Labor Standards Act wage and hour collective and class actions, sexual harassment, gender, race, disability and sexual orientation discrimination, retaliation, whistleblower, workers' compensation retaliation, and FMLA retaliation.  Notably, Charlie has fought for his clients' rights in high-profile cases of a national scope, including being appointed as class co-counsel in Dukes, et al. v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., a national gender discrimination class action, working to recover over $300 million from the oil industry in a Federal False Claims Act case, U.S. ex rel. Johnson v. Shell Oil Co., and bringing cases that resulted in the recovery of more than $30 million under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act.  Charlie is also Of Counsel with Kenney & McCafferty, P.C., a law firm nationally recognized for its False Claims Act (qui tam) practice.

Charlie's international legal experience includes directly advising the Cambodian government, non-governmental organizations and private sector clients in efforts to strengthen the rule of law, assist in rebuilding Cambodia's judicial system and prepare legislation relating to the management of the country's natural heritage, including its national parks and other protected areas.  In particular, Charlie advised and counseled multinational corporations on their compliance with Cambodian and international law with regard to labor, employment, commercial, corporate and contract matters.

In December, 2011, Charlie achieved a strong trial result in Broten v. Boston Health Care Systems, Inc., where he represented the plaintiff who won on her claims of disability discrimination, failure to accommodate disability and retaliation/reprisal pursuant to the Minnesota Human Rights Act, including double damages, punitive damages, and attorney's fees and costs.