Thomas G. Collins

Thomas G. Collins has 20 years of experience representing management clients in all aspects of labor and employment law. Tom has a broad range of clients from small to larger businesses, including companies with multi-state operations. Tom has handled class and other litigation matters for those clients in multiple jurisdictions.

Tom defends clients in all types of industries, including manufacturing, transportation, utilities and health care, and his practice ranges from proactive counseling and training to litigation in federal and state courts and administrative agencies. Tom also has experience in handling employee benefit matters under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), including benefit claim and fiduciary litigation matters.

Tom assists clients with:

• Administrative charges/state and federal litigations involving race, gender, age, disability and national origin discrimination;
• United States Department of Labor (DOL) audits and wage claims;
• Arbitrations before the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and other venues;
• Mediations;
• Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) litigation;
• Wage and hour class and collective actions in multiple state and federal venues;
• Trade secret law and restrictive covenant enforcement; and
• Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) litigation matters.

Tom also focuses a large part of his practice on proactive counseling and day-to-day compliance with local, state and federal statutes, including:

• The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA);
• The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA);
• Title VII;
• The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA);
• The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA); and
• Wage payment and collection laws.

Tom is a frequent speaker on those and other topics. He also drafts and reviews employer policies and employment and severance agreements for clients spanning numerous industries.

Some of Tom’s more recent experience includes:

• Defended a professional sports team in AAA Arbitration involving breach of employment contract for its head coach;
• Defended a multi-state nursing home chain in U.S. Dept. of Labor, Wage and Hour Division Audit;
• Defended a national homecare company in wage-and-hour class action in Colorado federal court on issue of first impression under the Colorado Minimum Wage Order;
• Defended a hospital against False Claims Act and Pennsylvania Whistleblower Law claims involving employee complaint;
• Defended a wrongful termination claim of former nurses against a Pennsylvania hospital involving invasion of privacy claims;
• Enforced restrictive covenants through litigation against employees and competitors involving client lists, trade secrets and other proprietary information;
• Defended wage and hour class action brought by employees in federal and state court against a large, multi-jurisdictional non-profit organization; and
• Defended a national pharmaceutical chain in Bivens Action brought by physician.

Tom serves on the firm's Board of Directors and is a member of the firm’s Promotions Committee.

Tom has been honored by The Best Lawyers in America© consecutively since 2020 in the areas of Labor Law - Management, Litigation - ERISA and Litigation - Labor & Employment. Most recently, Tom was recognized as a 2023 Best Lawyers in America “Lawyer of the Year” in Harrisburg in the Labor Law – Management and Litigation – Labor & Employment categories.