Abbey Kinson Brown

Her employment-related litigation practice has been wide-ranging, including but not limited to actions involving:

• Bringing and defending claims related to non-competition, non-solicitation and non-disclosure agreements
• Misappropriation of trade secret information
• Alleged overtime and wage and hour violations, including misclassification and time clock issues
• Investigation and recovery of stolen digital information
• The WARN Act

Abbey also regularly represents employers before the EEOC and state agencies charged with the enforcement of civil rights laws. She has experience defending against class actions and collective actions and is also regularly involved in general litigation.

She also counsels employers on compliance issues related to laws such as the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, Equal Employment Opportunity laws, federal wage and hour laws, and other federal and state laws affecting employment. Abbey advises clients regarding employment policies, workplace misconduct, and employee discipline and discharge, and conducts on-site workplace harassment training.

Abbey drafts and reviews employment-related contracts and documents, including employment agreements, post-employment restrictive covenant agreements, confidentiality agreements, settlement and release agreements, and policy materials in employee handbooks for clients.

Before starting at Calfee in 2014, she served as a judicial intern for Judge Sarah Evans Barker, United States District Court, Southern District of Indiana in the fall of 2013. She has also worked as a legal intern for the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.

Before attending law school, Abbey was Dean of Academics and a math teacher at Columbus Collegiate Academy, an Ohio Charter School serving inner-city, low-income students. She also taught in Washington, D.C., as a member of Teach for America.

Honors & Recognitions

• Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch, Labor and Employment Law - Management (2023-2024) and Litigation - Labor and Employment (2021-2024)
• Ohio Super Lawyers, Ohio Rising Stars, Employment Litigation: Defense (2022-2023)
• CALI awards in Criminal Law, Legal Professions, Law & Poverty and Transaction Drafting, Indiana University Maurer School of Law

Education

J.D., magna cum laude, Indiana University Maurer School of Law, Order of the Coif, Articles Editor for the Indiana Law Journal, 2014

M.A. in Teaching, American University, 2008

B.A., summa cum laude, Philosophy and German, The Ohio State University, 2006

Experience

• Obtained summary judgment for an employer on all claims brought by a former employee, including race and sex discrimination and retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Equal Pay Act, and Ohio’s Whistleblower statute.
• In a defamation/intentional infliction of emotional distress case where Plaintiff originally sought $270,000 in damages, obtained Plaintiff’s dismissal of the action with prejudice and a full, general release of any and all other claims against the client, in exchange for a payment of zero dollars and an offer not to seek sanctions, costs, and attorney fees against the Plaintiff.
• Obtained summary judgment for municipal utility in $188 million class action regarding alleged customer overcharges. The Court held for the municipal utility on all claims, and completely rejected the theory proposed by the municipal utilities’ former director.
• Obtained summary judgment in a breach of contract matter involving former employee’s failure to repay tuition and training costs when he quit shortly after completing training.
• Successfully represented a national client by commencing litigation against a former employee seeking to enforce the terms of a non-competition and non-solicitation agreement.
• Obtained an emergency TRO in a case involving breaches of a distributorship agreement, and then successfully defeated a motion to dismiss and to change venue, which lead to opponent’s immediate acceptance of the client’s open demand, settling the case on terms extremely favorable to the client.

Professional & Community

• Federal Bar Association, FBA Trial Academy CLE Planning Committee, Member
• Ladder Down Cleveland, Executive Committee, Member