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Rachel Wendt Wisdom
Areas of Emphasis:
• Class Actions and Complex Litigation
• Commercial Litigation
• Employment
• Securities Litigation
Ms. Wisdom was admitted to the Louisiana Bar and joined Stone Pigman in 1991. She is a member of the firm. Her practice is concentrated in complex commercial litigation, class actions and employment law.
Representative Matters
Defended wage penalty, FLSA, FMLA, ERISA, retaliatory discharge, employment civil rights, as well as race, sex and age discrimination claims in federal and state courts for public agencies as well as hotels, manufacturers, a cable installation company and professional services companies. E.g., Gelin v. The Housing Authority Of New Orleans, 456 F.3d 525 (5th Cir. 2006) and Sampract V. Dean Bentley, USDC for the Western District of LA, No.1:03cv579.
Successfully prosecuted and defended many claims for breach of employment contracts, including claims to enforce non-competition, anti-raiding and confidentiality clauses.
Represented manufacturing defendants in workplace exposure claims.
Represented public agencies in numerous employee termination appeals to the Louisiana Civil Service Commission and represented management in union arbitration proceedings.
Advises numerous clients regarding employment practices and policies, agreements, terminations and related compensation issues.
Represented a public housing agency, insurance companies and other business defendants in commercial and other class action proceedings, and has successfully defended against class certification.
Obtained a summary judgment in favor of a Louisiana industrial plant, dismissing damages claims in excess of $50,000,000. Education
Ms. Wisdom graduated magna cum laude from the Tulane University School of Law in 1990, where she was selected to the Order of the Coif and served as a Notes and Comments Editor of the Tulane Law Review, 1989-90. She attended L'Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris, 1982-83. She was selected to Phi Beta Kappa and graduated magna cum laude with departmental honors from Tulane University in 1984. Professional and Civic Activities
Ms. Wisdom served as judicial law clerk to the Honorable Martin L.C. Feldman, U.S. District Court, 1990-91, and has served as Judge pro tempore for the First City Court of Orleans Parish on multiple occasions from 1999-2005. Ms. Wisdom is an active member of the employment law committee of the American Bar Association Litigation Section, is a member of the executive council of the Louisiana State Bar Association Employment Section, and participated as an instructor for the National Institute of Trial Attorneys Gulf Coast Region Deposition Seminar from 2003-2006. From 2000-2005, she served as a board member and secretary of New Orleans Computer Access Program, a charitable organization that provided personal computers and training to disadvantaged New Orleans Public School first grade students and their parents. Since 2005, Ms. Wisdom has served as the Secretary to the Board of Directors of Advocates For Arts-Based Education, a nonprofit corporation that operates the Lusher Charter Schools in New Orleans. Since 2007, Ms. Wisdom has served as President of the board of directors of Rebuilding Our Community, Inc., a nonprofit organization working to assist with rebuilding efforts in New Orleans after Katrina, as well as on the Board of Advisors for Ozanam Inn, a shelter and service provider for the homeless. Ms. Wisdom has been named to The Best Lawyers in America in the field of commercial litigation. Publications
Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 127 S.Ct. 2162, 167 L.Ed. 2d 982 (2007): A Question of Timing, American Bar Association, New Orleans EEO Committee, January 2008.
Home Health Aides Remain Excluded From Minimum and Overtime Wage Requirements, Louisiana Bar Journal, Vol. 55 No. 3, Oct/Nov 2007 (Labor and Employment Law Section Recent Developments Section)
EEOC V. Sidley & Austin: Power and Control, The Woman Advocate, Vol. 11 No. 3, Spring 2006 (Woman Advocate Committee, Section of Litigation, American Bar Association)
Working Overtime under the FLSA, New Orleans Bar Association Sports Law Forum, June 2005
Rodriguez v. ConAgra, 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 565 (5th Cir. 1/10/06): A More Lenient Standard for Physical Disability Discrimination Claims Than For Those Involving Psychological Disabilities?, Louisiana Bar Journal, Vol. 53 No. 5, Feb/Mar 2006 (Labor and Employment Law Section Recent Developments Section)
The Admissibility of Electronic Evidence, Evidence 101 Seminar, Oct. 2003
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