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Robert L. Bowman is an extremely qualified, experienced, and effective trial attorney whose practice areas are Employment and Labor and Local Government and Public Utilities. He represents Fortune 500 companies as well as small business owners in complex litigation involving employment discrimination, Fair Labor Standards Act, non-competition, and trade secret issues. He also represents numerous quick-serve restaurant franchisees across the entire State of Tennessee. Helping his clients resolve their issues in a cost-effective and timely manner is one of Mr. Bowman’s most important goals, while simultaneously providing a high degree of quality legal work. When representing a client, he looks for solutions and paths to prompt dismissal or summary judgment of the lawsuit. Employment Law is a constantly changing and challenging arena, and he is adept at keeping his clients proactively informed about laws that help protect their business interests. Mr. Bowman has successfully tried cases involving a wide range of matters and industries in state circuit and chancery courts and federal district court. He has handled cases on appeal in all state and federal appellate courts. In one such instance, he successfully defended in the Tennessee Court of Appeals and Supreme Court an award of summary judgment to an employer accused of retaliation. His important areas of focus within his Employment and Labor practice include:
His Local Government and Public Utilities practice includes:
Representative Cases Brumbalough v. Camelot Care Centers, Inc., 427 F.3d 996 (6th Cir. 2005) (holding that emotional distress damages are not recoverable under the Family Medical Leave Act) This decision was published. Cross Mountain Coal, Inc., v. Ward, 93 F.3d 211 (6th Cir. 1996) (affirming award of benefits for Mr. Bowman’s client) This decision was also published. Published Articles Since joining Kramer Rayson LLP, Mr. Bowman has written many articles on employee leave and retaliation issues. Following are several of his published articles. “Bully Boss Legislation May Be on the Horizon” Tennessee Bar Journal, May 2008 Edward G. Phillips and Robert L. Bowman, The Light Duty Dilemma, 1 The Employer’s Handbook 75 (1996) Recent Presentations Mr. Bowman frequently lectures on best employment practices for Tennessee employers and has spoken at numerous seminars on Employment Law. Following are other presentations he gave: “The Wage and Hour Investigators Are Coming, Be Prepared” Kramer Rayson LLP Employment Law Seminar, Knoxville 2010 “Public Employers’ New and Unique Issues” Kramer Rayson LLP Employment Law Seminar, Knoxville 2009 “Lessons Learned From Bad Facts, Behavior and Decisions” Kramer Rayson LLP Employment Law Seminar, Knoxville 2008 “How to Deal With a Department of Labor Wage Hour Audit” Kramer Rayson LLP Employment Law Seminar, Knoxville 2007 “Selecting the Best Employees Within the Law" Kramer Rayson LLP Employment Law Seminar, Knoxville 2005 “Retaliation Claims: How to Avoid Winning the Battle and Losing the War” Kramer Rayson LLP Employment Law Seminar, Knoxville 2004 Representative Matters Many of Mr. Bowman’s cases have involved multiple plaintiffs; for example, he recently defended a municipality in a Fair Labor Standards Act case involving over 70 plaintiffs and played a significant role by handling discovery, drafting a dispositive motion, and negotiating a favorable settlement for his client. He also defended a multi-national mining company in several counties in East Tennessee which had 125 separate employee benefits cases pending against it. He recently represented a national school photography company in a non-competition and trade secrets lawsuit and obtained a verdict for compensatory damages of over $530,000, plus punitive damages, in his client’s favor against the defendants, a former salesperson and his new employer. Mr. Bowman was successful in getting a 2007 sexual harassment case dismissed on summary judgment, with the result of sanctions and costs entered against the plaintiff and her counsel, during his representation of the owner and president of an East Tennessee textile company. He defended a lawsuit brought by a former manager against a convenience store chain who claimed that the company provided materially false information about the employee in a reference check from a prospective employer. Mr. Bowman was able to have the case dismissed on summary judgment due to the fact that the plaintiff had given a release encompassing his client. Mr. Bowman recently defended a quick-serve restaurant that was accused of racial harassment by multiple employees and was successful at having the claims dismissed. He was instrumental in implementing training procedures for his client to use to help prevent similar future claims. Of Note
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