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Scott Zurakowski, joined Krugliak, Wilkins over twenty years ago. He is now one of the five members of the firm’s management committee and head of the firm’s Employment and Labor Section.
Scott counsels national, private sector, and public sector employers concerning labor and employment matters. Scott’s practice areas include the entire spectrum of both employment law and traditional labor law: labor relations, equal employment opportunity, employment discrimination, and unfair competition. Scott defends individual, class, and collective actions in state and federal courts and before state and federal administrative agencies. He provides counsel on all matters of labor and employment compliance. In addition, Scott advises employers on union organizing drives, negotiates collective bargaining agreements, and represents employers in grievance and arbitration proceedings. He regularly provides counsel to the Pro Football Hall of Fame with respect to labor and employment matters.
Scott was selected as an Ohio Super Lawyers “Rising Star” for the years 2006-2012 and named as a Super Lawyer every year since 2014. Scott also holds an AV Preeminent Rating from Martindale -Hubbell and was named a Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers for Employment Law – Management.
Scott is a dynamic speaker and lectures frequently on timely employment and labor topics, including employment discrimination, mandatory arbitration agreements, employment practices liability insurance, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Family and Medical Leave Act. He also has authored numerous articles concerning labor and employment matters.
Scott graduated from Mount Union College in 1994. He earned his law degree from Ohio Northern University’s Petit College of Law, where he was a member of national award-winning Administrative Law Moot Court Team. In his free time, Scott enjoys spending time with his wife and three children, running, biking, hiking, and playing golf.
Education
- Alliance High School, Alliance, Ohio 1990
- University of Mount Union, B.A. Degree, 1994
- President and Vice President: Student Senate
- Member: National Honorary Society and Blue Key
- Ohio Northern University Petit College of Law, J.D., 1997
- Order of Barristers
- Presiding Justice for the Moot Court Board of Advocates
- Champion of the 1996 National Administrative Law Moot Court Competition
Professional Experience
Employment / Labor
- Defense practice includes a wide range of litigation, including, contract disputes, wrongful termination, FLSA class action, and collective actions, and complex litigation.
- Provides counsel and advice to employers and management regarding employee handbooks, layoffs, discipline, terminations, sexual harassment, ADA, and Family Medical Leave.
- Represents management in union negotiations, campaigns, grievances, and arbitrations for both the private and public sector.
- Represents employers in defense of DOL OSHA citations and on equal employment opportunity claims before the EEOC and OCRC.
Oil and Gas
- Counsels and advises producers, drillers, and transporters involved in the oil and gas industry, including litigation before both state and federal courts in Ohio.
Complex Litigation
- Defense practice representing companies in class actions, mass actions, and complex litigation involving contract disputes, event cancellations, election law, and mandamus actions.
Courts and Bar Associations
- State of Ohio, 1998
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio, 1999
- U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio, 2004
- U.S. District Court, Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, 2018
- Member: Stark County Bar Association
- Member: Ohio State Bar Association
- Member: American Bar Association
Professional and Community Affiliations
- Member: Ohio Oil and Gas Association
- Member and serves on the Programming Committee: Energy & Mineral Law Foundation
- Former Legal Counsel and Former Member of the Board of Directors (2014): Better Business Bureau of Canton & Greater West Virginia
- The leadership of Stark County, Graduate of the 17th Class
- Former Chairman and Member: Plain Township Zoning Commission
- Former member of the Board of Trustees, served as Legislative Committee Chairman, 2000-2008: Alliance Chamber of Commerce
- Former Chairman, Board of Trustees: United Way of Greater Stark County
- Former Chairman, 2006—2007: The University of Mount Union Alumni Council
- Former Member of the Board of Trustees: The University of Mount Union
- Member of the Board of Trustees: Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce
- Member of the Board of Trustees: Aultman College
Honors & Awards
- Listed in Best Lawyers in America®
- Named the Best Lawyers Akron Employment Law – Individuals “Lawyer of the Year,” 2014
- Listed in Ohio Super Lawyers®
- AV® Preeminent Rating in the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory
- “20 Young Professionals Under the Age of 40” Award recipient presented by Ystark!, a project of the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce
Notable Cases
Ohio Supreme Court
- State ex rel. Claugus Farm, L.P. v. Seventh Dist. Court of Appeals, 145 Ohio St.3d 180, 2016-Ohio-178
- Dunn, et al, v. Plain Local School District Board of Education, 158 Ohio St. 3d. 370, 2020-Ohio-40
- Dunn, et al. v. Plain Local School District Board of Education, 159 Ohio St. 3d. 139, 2020-Ohio-339
- Cook, et al. v. Bowling Green City School District Board of Education, 160 Ohio St.3d 371, 2020-Ohio-3252
United States Federal Courts
- Wellington Resource Group v. Beck Energy, 975 F.Supp.2d 833 (S.D.Ohio 2013)
- Plain Local School District Board of Education v. Dewine, 2020 WL 5521310 (S.D.Ohio 2020)
- Sequatchie Mountain Creditors v. Lile, 585 B.R. 426 (N.D.Ohio 2018)
- Treviso v. Pro Football Hall of Fame, 2018 WL 4608197 (N.D.Ohio 2018)
- Pro Football Hall of Fame v. Welty Building Co., Stark Cty. Common Pleas Case No. 2018CV01239.
Notable Presentations
- “Social Media & The Workplace”
- “Discrimination & Unlawful Sexual Harassment”
- “Workplace Retaliation…A Growing Problem For Employers”
- “Effective Strategies for Protecting Confidential Information: Non-competes; Non-solicitation; Confidentiality Agreements”
- “Armed Forces Discrimination & USERRA”
- “Veterans Employment & Reemployment Rights”
- “Conducting Workplace Investigations”
- “Immigrant Workforce: Stepped Up Enforcement”
- “Preventing Retaliation Claims”
- “Brand New Workday: A Review of New Legislation in the Obama Era”
- “The Employee Free Choice Act – Times are About to Change”
- “Employment Law for Supervisors”
- “Internal & External E-Mail Communications In The Workplace”
- “All In A Day’s Work: From Want Ad to Pink Slip”
- “HIPAA Privacy & Security Training”
- “Sexual Harassment Training”
- “How to Stay Union Free“
- “Smokeless Cigarettes – Are they legal under Ohio’s Smoke-Free Workplace Act?”
- “Win For Employers – Ohio Supreme Court Limits Public Policy Wrongful Discharge Claims”
- “Beware of Your Employees Who Twitter”
- “First Expansion of Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) since 1993, signed by President Bush”
- “Can a Terminated Lease Be Cured?” – Presenter at the Enegy & Mineral Law Foundation’s (EMLF) 36th Annual Institute (2015)
ARTICLES PUBLISHED BY SCOTT M. ZURAKOWSKI
- Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9
- Federal Judge Blocks Rule Requiring Overtime For Salaried Employees Earning Under $47,476.00
- Summit County Common Pleas Court Denies Munroe Falls’s Attempt to Stop Beck Energy Corporation’s Well
- Munroe Falls Court Case Over Oil & Gas Well Authority Deemed Frivolous, a Waste of Taxpayers Money
- The Ohio Supreme Court Finds Oil and Gas Leases Are Not Void As Against Public Policy
