Matthew A. Boyd
Matt Boyd is a partner in the Firm’s Labor & Employment Practice Group. Matt’s practice consists of defending and advising employers in labor and employment matters with an emphasis on complex litigation, including class actions, collective actions, multi-plaintiff litigation, and arbitrations. Matt has extensive experience in defending, advising, and training employers with respect to all types of state and federal employment-related matters, including discrimination claims, wage and hour issues, compliance with disability and family and medical leave laws, whistleblower and violation of public policy claims (including under the False Claims Act, Sarbanes-Oxley, and state whistleblower statutes), and employee privacy issues. Matt also has extensive expertise in drafting, negotiating, and enforcing employment agreements (including senior executives and other professionals, as well as college coaching and sports agreements), restrictive covenants, and contractual provisions to protect employers’ trade secrets and confidential information. Finally, Matt has conducted a number of highly sensitive internal investigations for employers involving senior employees accused of harassment, illegal activities, retaliation, and similar misconduct.
Professional Experience
Matt's employment-law experience covers the entire spectrum of employment law, including, among others:
- Defending a Fortune-50 beverage company on a national basis against variety of single-plaintiff, multi-plaintiff, and class action claims under Title VII, 42 U.S.C. §1981; the Americans With Disabilities Act; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act; the Fair Labor Standards Act; and the Family and Medical Leave Act;
- Defending a New York specialty pharmacy company against claims of religious and national-origin discrimination in one of the earliest discrimination/harassment cases brought by a Muslim employee following September 11, 2001;
- Defending a national fast-food chain in a collective action against claims that its assistant store managers should have been treated as non-exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act;
- Conducting a number of internal investigations into alleged retaliation and wrongdoing by senior executives of publicly-traded companies;
- Enforcing non-compete, non-solicitation, and confidentiality agreements against senior executives of three different publicly-traded companies following the alleged theft of highly sensitive trade secrets;
- Defending a prominent New York hedge fund against multi-million dollar breach of contract claims brought by traders and analysts;
- Drafting and negotiating a number of CEO, CFO, and other senior executive employment agreements for public companies, large private companies, and professional and collegiate sports teams/programs.
- Representing the athletic association of a major university with respect to the drafting and negotiation of all of its sports coaching contracts;
- Representing a professional sports team in a highly publicized dispute with one of its premier players; and
- Representing a prominent college sports coach in a dispute over publicity rights brought against him by a national sports equipment manufacturer.
In addition, Matt has extensive experience in training and advising employers and their employees in an effort to proactively avoid costly employment disputes, including guiding employers through employee layoffs and other group employment terminations.
Professional affiliations
- Georgia Bar Association
- Member, Labor & Employment and Appellate Practice Sections
- Atlanta Bar Association
- Former governing board member, Labor & Employment Section
Articles and publications
Practice areas
Education
J.D., Vanderbilt University (1996)
- Member, Vanderbilt Law Review
- Member, the Jessup International Moot Court Team
- Member, Vanderbilt Moot Court Board
B.A., cum laude, History and Political Science, Furman University (1993)
Bar admissions
- Georgia
- Tennessee
Courts
- United States Court of Appeals, 3rd Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals, 6th Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit
- United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
- United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee