Douglas T. Noah

Mr. Noah was born in Clearwater, Florida and has always lived in the Central Florida area. He received his Juris Doctor degree from Stetson University College of Law in 1990. While at Stetson Mr. Noah was a member of the prestigious Stetson Trial Team and won two national trial competitions and a state trial competition. He was an Editorial Board member of the Stetson Law Review, is a national member of the Order of Barristers, and is author of “Florida’s New Poison Pill Statute – A Framework of Analysis for Director’s Refusal to Redeem” published in the Stetson Law Review.

Mr. Noah has devoted his practice to labor and employment law issues. His practice involves all aspects of legal practice including consultation, training, investigations of employment related complaints, state agency practice and providing representation during litigation and appeal. Some of the highlights of his experience follow.

Mr. Noah’s practice involves consulting with human resource professionals, risk managers and operational managers on a wide variety of employment related issues. Several private and public employers have retained him as their employment and labor counsel. A sample of Mr. Noah’s practice in this area include the following activities: drafting policies and procedures for adoption; reviewing and recommending revisions to policies; issuing opinion letters on a wide variety of legal issues including FLSA, ADA, FMLA, drug free workplace, and avoidance of unfair labor practice claims. Mr. Noah also assists employers in their communication with employees by suggesting language to be incorporated in performance improvement plans, disciplinary memoranda and correspondence. Finally, Mr. Noah routinely consults with operational managers to assist them in achieving operational goals while complying with the various employment and labor laws. He has also made suggestions on improving workplace diversity.

Additional practice areas involve training human resource managers, operational managers and rank and file employees on the laws governing employment and specific employer personnel policies and procedures. Each year, Mr. Noah provides a one hour employment course during his firm’s annual seminar for which risk managers and insurance adjusters may obtain Continuing Education credit. Mr. Noah has provided employment training, to the Orange County chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management; employment training to members of the Florida League of Cities; employment training to Travelers claims managers; provided policy and procedures training to rank and file employees for Hernando County and the City of Cocoa Beach and management/employment law training to the managers and supervisors of Hernando County, the Hernando County Clerk of Court’s Office, the City of Cocoa Beach, and Armor Correctional Health, Inc, amongst various other entities and organizations.

Mr. Noah also represents employers during internal and governmental agency investigations. Within this area of practice, Mr. Noah has conducted internal investigations of employees accused of committing various policy infractions. Mr. Noah also routinely represents employers when responding to charges of discrimination investigated by the EEOC, FCHR and other state and county deferral agencies. Such representation has included submitting employer position statements, representing employers during EEOC/FCHR mediations, representing employers during agency onsite and telephone interviews of employees and representing management during state administrative hearings.

During non-litigation adversarial proceedings, Mr. Noah has represented management before civil service boards, DOAH hearings and appeals referee hearings for adjudication of unemployment compensation benefits.

Mr. Noah’s practice also includes defense against claims alleging racial discrimination, gender discrimination, sexual and racial harassment, disability-based discrimination, age discrimination and claims brought by the uniformed military. Mr. Noah has defended public entities against claims brought under the discrimination and retaliation provisions of Title VII, USERRA, the Family Medical Leave Act and the State Whistle Blowers statutes. He has also defended claims brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §1983 alleging violations of federal constitutional amendments including equal protection, due process, and Fourth Amendment workplace privacy. He has defended public employers against state law claims such as negligent hiring and retention, as well as workers’ compensation retaliation. These claims have arisen out of each aspect of employment, including failure to hire, unfair discipline, failure to promote, constructive discharge, and involuntary termination.

Mr. Noah has also successfully defeated class certification when sought in the employment context. He has litigated employment claims through trial, but has been exceptionally successful in obtaining dismissals and summary judgments thereby avoiding the necessity of trial. Mr. Noah is a member of and has tried cases in each of the three federal courts in the State of Florida, as well as numerous state courts.

In addition to employment, Mr. Noah has defended a number of civil rights claims brought against public entities in both Federal and State Court. His experience includes responding to writs of mandamus, defending temporary injunctions and arguing reinstatement claims during evidentiary hearings in both State and Federal Courts. He has successfully defended local ordinances and State statutes against constitutional challenges including Fla. Stat. §447.509(1) prohibiting employee organizations from soliciting during working hours.

Mr. Noah has spoken before a number of civic groups, businesses, and municipalities, on the issues of sexual harassment, religious discrimination, ADA, and workers’ compensation retaliation, amongst various other employment topics. He is a member of the Florida Bar, the United States District Courts for the Middle, Northern and Southern Districts of Florida, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management. His civic activities include acting as past president of the Board of Directors for the Center for Independent Living in Central Florida, Inc. and counseling the Multiple Sclerosis Society on ADA issues.