Keith M. Stern

Florida Employee LawyerAssociate

E-mail: kstern@shavitzlaw.com
1515 S. Federal Highway, Suite 404
Boca Raton, Florida 33432
Telephone: (561) 447-8888
Fax: (561) 447-8831

Keith M. Stern is responsible for one of the Shavitz Law Group, P.A.’s litigation divisions and also provides oversight and management of the firm’s day to day operations. Over the past nine (9) years, Mr. Stern has worked on behalf of thousands of workers in employment disputes arising primarily in Federal Court. Mr. Stern regularly serves as both trial and appellate counsel, including appeals before Florida’s Third and Fourth District Courts of Appeal as well as the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Mr. Stern was recently recognized as a "Rising Star" in field of labor & employment law in the 2009 edition of Florida Super Lawyers.

Mr. Stern works on a daily basis to fight for the rights of employees in individual overtime cases throughout Florida, as well as in collective actions arising in Florida and across the United States. Mr Stern also regularly handles cases aimed at preserving equal employment opportunity and fair treatment in the workplace with concentrations in: non-compete and trade secret claims; ERISA violations, retaliation and workplace discrimination claims based upon an employee’s age, race, national origin, sex/gender (including sexual harassment), disability, HIV-positive status, sexual orientation, FMLA leave, and whistle blower activity.

Mr. Stern’s wage & hour practice focuses on helping to secure the recovery of unpaid overtime wages for employees who have been: improperly classified as “independent contractors” despite performing job duties as an employee; paid straight-time wages for their overtime hours worked, often times in cash; subjected to deductions from their salaried wages for only partial day’s absences from work; shorted hours from their paycheck despite working more than Forty (40) hours per week; deprived of overtime compensation for time spent traveling for their job throughout the course of a work day; paid commission wages without being paid any overtime pay, or being paid at a rate which failed to include their commissions, for all hours worked over Forty (40) each week; and paid in tips without receiving the full extent of their wages, including the minimum wage, required by law.

BAR ADMISSIONS

Admitted: 2000, Florida; 2001, U.S. District Court, Southern Middle, and Northern Districts of Florida and U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

MEMBERSHIPS

The Florida Bar (Member, Labor and Employment Law Section); South Palm Beach County Bar Association; Federal Bar Association; American Bar Association (Member, Labor and Employment Law Section); National Employment Lawyers Association; and Florida chapter of the National Employment Lawyers Association.

EDUCATION & BIOGRAPHY

University of Miami, J.D., 2000

University of Miami Moot Court Board; Member and Vice President, University of Miami Labor & Employment Law Society. Member and Articles & Comments Editor, University of Miami Entertainment & Sports Law Review, 1999-2000

Arizona State University, B.S., Summa Cum Laude, 1997

Born: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

PRACTICE AREAS

Wage and Hour Law
Employment Discrimination
Whistleblower Litigation
ERISA
Fair Labor Standards Act
Employee Benefits
Unfair Competition
Employment Agreements
Severance Agreements
Labor Arbitration
Collective Bargaining
Administrative Law

REPORTED CASES

Exime v. E.W. Ventures, Inc., 591 F. Supp. 2d 1364 (S.D. Fla. 2009)
Byrd v. B.T. Foods, Inc., 948 So. 2d 921 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007)
Ramos-Gomez v. Educational Development Center, Inc., 164 Fed. Appx. 942 (11th Cir. 2006)
Ramirez v. Sears Roebuck & Co., 864 So. 2d 62 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003)
Vega v. Florida Unemployment Appeals Commission, 833 So. 2d 310 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003)