William (Bill) F. Dugan

Biography

William (Bill) Dugan is a partner in Baker McKenzie’s Employment and Compensation Practice Group, residing in Chicago and New York, chair of the US Disputes Employment Group, co-chair of the North American Employment Disputes Group, and a member of the Steering Committee for the North American Employment and Compensation Practice. Bill has been recognized as a leader in labor and employment law by Chambers, he has been repeatedly recognized for his superior litigation defense in Super Lawyers, and Legal 500 has stated that Bill is a “master in the art of defending corporations in litigation.” Bill represents management in complex litigation in federal and state courts and other tribunals throughout the United States, including trade secret and restrictive covenant matters, class and collective actions, and labor arbitrations. Bill also counsels employers on a wide range of Labor and Employment issues.

Practice Focus

Bill has extensive experience representing management in complex litigation before federal and state courts, administrative agencies and other tribunals throughout the United States. He routinely litigates against the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, defending clients in high-profile systemic cases, as well as class and collective actions under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and state wage hour laws. Among his various class and collective actions, Bill has successfully defended a race pay and promotion class action against a significant not-for-profit; the largest gender pay and promotion case ever brought by the EEOC; the largest class pay and promotion class arbitration ever filed by the private plaintiffs' bar; Title III class litigation involving hundreds of stores for major retailers; and class actions involving independent insurance agents nationwide.

Bill also has significant trial experience, including a multi-plaintiff race discrimination and harassment lawsuit litigated for nine weeks to verdict before a Detroit, Michigan jury; a multi-plaintiff sex harassment and retaliation lawsuit litigated to verdict before a Chicago, Illinois jury; a breach of contract lawsuit litigated to verdict before an Ann Arbor, Michigan jury; the first sexual orientation lawsuit tried to verdict in Illinois; and an unfair labor practice hearing wherein nearly 100 unfair labor practice charges were litigated to verdict over 48 hearing days in Syracuse, New York.

Bill routinely represents clients in the financial industry, and regularly litigates before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority achieving successful results, including a complete defense verdict in a FINRA arbitration where actual damages exceeded USD 50 million resulting in the General Counsel declaring after trial that "[he had] never met a better trial lawyer" than Bill Dugan.

Representative Legal Matters

Betts, et al. v. Costco Wholesale Corporation (E.D. MI). Multi-plaintiff race discrimination and harassment suit tried to verdict over nine weeks.
Butler, et al. v. American Cable & Telephone, LLC (N.D. IL) FLSA, IWPCA and multiple separate class and collective claims.
Copp, et al. v. American Enterprise Services Co. et al. (S.D. IA). Defeated class certification in breach of contract and FCRA suit involving 9,000 putative class members.
EEOC v. Cardiac Science Corporation (E.D. WI). Represented client in EEOC challenge of severance agreement used in reduction-in-force.
EEOC v. Sterling Jewelers Inc. (W.D. NY). Represented client in largest EEOC pay and promotion sex discrimination case involving 77,000 individuals.
Hernandez, et al. v. Surestaff, Inc., et al. (N.D. IL). Class and collective action involving RICO, FLSA, IWPCA and IMWL claims.
Jock, et al. v. Sterling Jewelers Inc. (AAA). Title VII and EPA class and collective action with over 77,000 putative class members for alleged gender discrimination in pay and promotions.
Jones, et al. v. Y-USA, et al. (N.D. IL). Nationwide class action for alleged race discrimination in pay, promotions, and other terms and conditions of employment.
Rangel v. Commonwealth Hospitality (N.D. IL). Wage hour class and collective action under federal and state law.
Yuan v. GETCO Securities, LLC, (FINRA). Tried a multimillion-dollar FINRA suit to verdict.

Admissions

Illinois~United States
New York~United States
U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit~United States
U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit~United States
U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit~United States
U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit~United States
U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit~United States
U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit~United States
U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit~United States
U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit~United States
U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois~United States
U.S. District Court, District of Colorado~United States
U.S. District Court, District of Montana~United States
U.S. District Court, District of Nevada~United States
U.S. District Court, District of New Mexico~United States
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Kentucky~United States
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan~United States
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri~United States
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York~United States
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin~United States
U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida~United States
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois (Trial Bar)~United States
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Indiana~United States
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Illinois~United States
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Indiana~United States
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Iowa~United States
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio~United States
U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York~United States
U.S. District Court, Western District of Kentucky~United States
U.S. District Court, Western District of Michigan~United States
U.S. District Court, Western District of Missouri~United States
U.S. District Court, Western District of Ohio~United States

Education

University of Notre Dame Law School (J.D., cum laude) (1995)
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (B.A.) (1992)

Languages

English

Contributor, The Employer Report