St. Louis Employment Lawyer

Employment representation grounded in 80+ years of work on behalf of clients in St. Louis and the surrounding area.

If you’ve been fired without justification, passed over for a promotion you earned, or pushed out of a job because of who you are, Missouri law may give you a path to hold your employer accountable. Our St. Louis, MO employment lawyer at TGH Litigation has spent decades representing Missouri workers in discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and wage disputes, and we offer free initial consultations to help you understand your options.

Employment Lawyer St. Louis, MO

An employment attorney represents workers in legal disputes with their employers. The work ranges from advising employees who aren’t sure whether something illegal happened, to filing charges with government agencies, or trying cases in federal court. Missouri is an at-will employment state, which means employers can generally terminate workers for any reason but not for an illegal one. That distinction matters, and understanding it is where the legal analysis usually starts.

What makes employment cases complicated is that the law protects workers at multiple levels simultaneously. Federal statutes like Title VII, the ADA, and the ADEA set a baseline of protections that apply across the country. Missouri’s Human Rights Act adds a separate layer of state law protections, and in some respects covers more ground than federal law does. Knowing which claims to pursue, in which forum, and on what timeline requires a working knowledge of both systems. An attorney who handles these cases regularly understands how those layers interact and where the strongest arguments tend to live, which matters when you’re deciding whether to file with a state agency, the EEOC, or go to court.

Types of Employment Cases We Handle in St. Louis

Our attorneys have handled employment disputes across the full spectrum of workplace law. Each case starts with the same assessment of what happened and if the law provides a remedy. Here are examples of employment cases we can take on:

Employment discrimination. We represent employees who’ve been treated differently because of their race, gender, age, disability, religion, or national origin. That includes hiring, firing, promotions, pay, and working conditions.
Sexual harassment. Whether it’s quid pro quo harassment from a supervisor or a hostile work environment created by coworkers, these are serious claims with real legal remedies. TGH Litigation has tried and won these cases.
Wrongful termination. If you were fired for discriminatory reasons, for reporting misconduct, or for exercising a legal right, that termination may not have been lawful. We evaluate these situations carefully and pursue them when the facts support it.
Whistleblowers. Employees who report illegal conduct internally or to a government agency are protected from retaliation. TGH Litigation has a history of representing whistleblowers and obtaining results.
Wage and hour disputes. Unpaid overtime, off-the-clock work requirements, and misclassification of employees as independent contractors or exempt are all actionable under federal and Missouri law.
Retaliation. Retaliation is one of the most frequently filed employment claims. It doesn’t require proving the underlying discrimination, just that you engaged in protected activity and your employer took adverse action because of it.
Contract and severance matters. Employment agreements, non-compete clauses, and severance packages are areas where legal review before you sign can protect your interests significantly.
Employment at educational institutions. TGH Litigation handles employment matters involving faculty, staff, and administrators at schools and universities, including Title IX-related employment claims.

Why Choose TGH Litigation as My Employment Attorney in St. Louis, Missouri?

Built on Employment and Civil Rights Litigation

J. Andrew Hirth is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, the D.C. Circuit, the Eighth Circuit, the Ninth Circuit, the Eleventh Circuit, and the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri. He earned his J.D. cum laude from the University of Missouri School of Law and has been recognized as a Super Lawyer for his civil rights and employment work.

Joanna Trachtenberg handles employment discrimination, whistleblower protection, workers’ compensation retaliation, and wage and hour cases, among other matters. She’s admitted in Missouri, New York, and before multiple federal courts, including the Second Circuit and the Eighth Circuit. She holds a J.D. cum laude from NYU School of Law and an M.A. in Women’s Studies, which informs her approach to gender and sex discrimination claims in particular.

Julianne Germinder earned her J.D. from Washington University School of Law and her undergraduate degrees in political science and economics magna cum laude at the University of Missouri. She received the Women’s Justice Award from Missouri Lawyers Media, a reflection of her standing in Missouri’s legal community.

Results in Real Courtrooms

The firm has helped Missouri employees recover millions of dollars in cases against well-funded institutional defendants, including verdicts against public employers like the Missouri Department of Corrections. These outcomes reflect what happens when attorneys prepare a case for verdict rather than just for disposition.

What Is Important To Understand About St. Louis Employment Cases?

Liability, Damages, and Legal Claims in Employment Cases

The legal framework for employment cases is built around a few core concepts:

Protected characteristics: Federal and Missouri law prohibit adverse employment actions based on race, sex, age (40+), disability, religion, national origin, and other protected categories.
Adverse employment action: Termination, demotion, pay reduction, failure to promote, or a materially hostile working environment.
Causation: Connecting the protected characteristic or protected activity to the adverse action is where most cases are won or lost.
Damages: Remedies include back pay, front pay, compensatory damages for emotional distress, and in some cases punitive damages or attorney’s fees.
At-will employment: Missouri’s default rule, but it does not protect employers who act for illegal reasons.

What Are Important Aspects of an Employment Case?

When it comes to the important aspects of an employment case, there are a few things that make a difference:

Sequence of events, especially when an adverse action follows a complaint.
Written documentation, including performance reviews, emails, or texts from supervisors.
How similarly situated employees outside your protected class were treated.
Whether internal complaints were made and how management responded.
Any arbitration clause in your employment contract that affects where you can file.

What Is the Employment Case Timeline?

Initial consultation and claim evaluation. We review the facts, assess your legal options, and tell you honestly what we think.
Agency filing, if required. Federal discrimination claims typically require an EEOC charge before suit can be filed. Missouri claims require a charge with the Missouri Commission on Human Rights. Missing these deadlines can end your case.
Discovery and investigation. Both sides gather evidence, documents, depositions, and third-party records.
Settlement or mediation. Many employment cases resolve before trial, but not all. We negotiate seriously and litigate when necessary.
Trial. Our attorneys have tried employment cases to verdict. When settlement isn’t right, we’re ready.

What Should You Bring to Your Employment Consultation?

Come prepared to talk us through what happened in your own words. We’ll ask questions and help you understand what the situation looks like legally. Here is useful information to have for your appointment:

Bring termination letters, performance reviews, or disciplinary notices
Any emails or texts relevant to what happened
Employment contracts, offer letters, or handbooks
Chronology of events including any complaints you made and how they were handled
Details you think are minor sometimes aren’t
A copy of your an internal complaint to HR or management

Missouri Legal Resources for Employment Cases

Missouri employees navigating workplace disputes have access to both state and federal systems. Key resources include:

The Missouri Commission on Human Rights handles employment discrimination charges under state law. Charges must be filed within 180 days of the discriminatory act.
The EEOC field office locator can help you find the St. Louis district office, which accepts federal discrimination charges and has jurisdiction over Missouri employers. The filing deadline is 300 days when a state agency is also involved.
The U.S. Department of Labor handles minimum wage and overtime claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Reach Out to TGH Litigation to Schedule a Consultation

TGH Litigation offers free initial consultations for employment matters in St. Louis and across Missouri. Whether you’re trying to figure out if what happened to you was illegal, or you already know it was and need to do something about it, we’re ready to listen. Contact us to schedule your consultation.

Employment Law Statistics in St. Louis

Missouri workers filed 1,622 charges of employment discrimination with the EEOC in fiscal year 2022, up from 1,261 the year before. That increase came after several years of decline, and it does not include the complaints Missouri employees file with the state commission or with the City of St. Louis.

Retaliation now appears in a majority of Missouri filings, which means a large share of workers are not only alleging mistreatment but alleging that the employer punished them for reporting it. The EEOC has identified retaliation as the most frequently filed basis nationally for well over a decade, and Missouri follows that pattern closely.

Retaliation was alleged in 933 Missouri charges in fiscal year 2022, or 57.5 percent of the state’s charge receipts.
Disability was the second most common basis, alleged in 558 charges, followed by sex at 536 and race at 475.
Age discrimination accounted for 278 Missouri charges, roughly 17 percent of the state total.
Equal Pay Act claims accounted for 24 charges, a reminder that pay disparities are among the least reported workplace problems.
Missouri charges represented 2.2 percent of all charges filed nationally that year.

Factors That Affect the Outcome of Your Employment Case

Two employees can describe similar treatment and end up with very different results. The difference usually comes down to proof, procedure, and decisions made early. These are the factors that most often shape where a St. Louis employment case lands.

Documentation created before the dispute began. Reviews, emails, and schedules written while everything was still routine carry more weight than anything assembled afterward. They are harder for an employer to explain away because nobody wrote them with a lawsuit in mind.
How comparable employees were treated. If someone outside your protected group did the same thing and kept their job, that comparison often becomes the center of the case. We look for those employees early, while the records still exist.
The interval between your complaint and the employer’s response. A demotion three weeks after a report tells a different story than one three years later. Sequence matters, and so does whether the decision-maker knew about your complaint.
Whether you reported internally, and what happened next. An internal report establishes notice. The employer’s response, or its absence, frequently becomes the strongest evidence in a wrongful termination or retaliation claim.
An arbitration clause buried in your onboarding paperwork. Many employees signed one without realizing. It can move a dispute out of court entirely, and identifying it early changes the strategy rather than ending the case.
What you earned after the job ended. Employees are generally expected to look for comparable work, and back pay is reduced by what you earn elsewhere. Keeping a record of your search protects the value of the claim.
Consistency in the employer’s stated reason. When a company gives one explanation to you, another to the unemployment office, and a third in litigation, those contradictions become useful. We track every version.
How soon you spoke with an attorney. Deadlines run from the conduct itself. Early advice preserves evidence, protects filing windows, and prevents an employee from signing away a claim they did not know they had.

St. Louis Employment Lawyer FAQs

What does an employment lawyer in St. Louis actually handle?

The work spans advising employees who are still on the job, filing charges with state and federal agencies, negotiating separations, and litigating in state and federal court. Some matters resolve in a phone call and a letter. Others become multi-year lawsuits. Our attorneys have taken employment cases to verdict, including one involving unlawful retaliation against a state university.

Do I need a lawyer to file with an agency?

No, and many workers file on their own. The risk is that the charge defines the scope of what you can later sue over. Claims left out of it can be difficult to add afterward, and the language you use matters more than most people expect. Having the charge reviewed before it goes in is often the most valuable early step.

What does hiring an employment attorney cost?

The first consultation is free. What follows depends on the type of claim, and we explain the arrangement plainly before any work begins. Many employment statutes allow a prevailing employee to recover attorney’s fees from the employer, which is part of why these cases are reachable for workers who could not otherwise fund litigation.

Can my employer force my claim into arbitration?

Sometimes. Arbitration agreements are common in onboarding paperwork, and many employees do not recall signing one. Whether the clause is enforceable, and what it actually covers, depends on its terms. We review the agreement before assuming it controls, because these provisions are not always as broad as employers suggest.

Am I protected if I complained on behalf of a coworker?

Generally, yes. Opposing conduct you reasonably believe is unlawful is protected activity, and that protection is not limited to complaints about your own treatment. Participating in an investigation is protected as well. Punishing an employee for either can support a claim regardless of how the underlying complaint is resolved.

Does a non-compete prevent me from taking a new job?

Not automatically. Missouri courts examine whether the restriction protects a legitimate interest and whether its scope and duration are reasonable. Overbroad agreements are frequently narrowed or set aside. Before you turn down an offer or sign a new agreement, it is worth having the language reviewed by someone who litigates these disputes.

What if I work for a government employer?

Public employees often have protections that private-sector workers do not, including rights tied to speech and to open government. Those rights of public employees come with their own procedures and deadlines. We have obtained reinstatement with backpay for a public employee removed from his position.

Can I recover unpaid overtime?

Often, yes. Misclassification, off-the-clock work, and unpaid final wages are all actionable, and these claims turn on records and arithmetic rather than intent. Pay stubs, time entries, and schedules usually decide them. Wage claims also carry their own deadlines, which run separately from discrimination filing windows.

What if I already signed a severance agreement?

Bring it in. Most severance agreements waive the right to sue, and those waivers are frequently enforceable. Not always, though, and what the agreement actually covers is worth reading carefully before you assume the matter is closed. If you have been offered one and have not signed, that is the better time to call.

What if I am not sure anything illegal happened?

That is a common reason to schedule a consultation. Some workplace treatment is unfair without being unlawful, and the two are not the same thing. We will tell you which one you are describing. Either way, you leave understanding your position.

Important Resources for St. Louis Employment Cases

St. Louis Courts and Agencies for Employment Cases

Employment matters in St. Louis move through several forums depending on the claim. Discrimination and retaliation charges begin at the EEOC or the Missouri Commission on Human Rights. Wage claims go to the U.S. Department of Labor or to the state. Lawsuits are filed either in the federal courthouse downtown or, for state law claims arising in the city, in the 22nd Judicial Circuit. A worker who was terminated may also have an unemployment claim running at the same time, and what gets said in that proceeding can matter later.

What Are Important Local Resources for St. Louis Employment Cases?

The offices below handle the filings and claims that St. Louis employees encounter most often.

U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division local offices, 314-539-2706. The St. Louis district office on Spruce Street handles federal minimum wage and overtime complaints.
EEOC St. Louis District Office, 314-798-1960. Receives federal discrimination and retaliation charges for Missouri workers.
Missouri Division of Labor Standards, 573-751-3403. Enforces the state’s minimum wage, prevailing wage, and child labor provisions.
Missouri Regional Claim Center, Department of Labor, 314-340-4950. Handles unemployment benefit claims for the St. Louis area.

We are not affiliated with any of these offices, and listing them here is not an endorsement. They are provided only so you know where to start.

About TGH Litigation

TGH Litigation has represented Missouri employees since 2016, and we appear on one side of these disputes only. Our attorneys secured a $6.14 million verdict against St. Louis Public Schools in a matter involving sex discrimination and retaliation, and revived a dismissed discrimination case when an appellate panel reinstated the lawsuit against a state university. Our founders have also spoken publicly about workers’ rights in Missouri.

What Our Clients Say

★★★★★

“I worked with TGH Litigation during a difficult professional situation and was very impressed with their representation.

Their team was knowledgeable, responsive, and took the time to explain the process every step of the way. They treated me with respect, communicated clearly, and provided steady guidance during a stressful period. I always felt that my concerns were being taken seriously and that I had a strong advocate in my corner.

Thanks to their hard work and dedication, the matter ultimately concluded with a positive outcome for me. I appreciate their professionalism and would highly recommend them to anyone needing legal representation in employment or civil rights matters.”

Brian Tate

Read more reviews on our Google Business Profile.

Additional Resources for St. Louis Employment Cases

Contact TGH Litigation

If something happened at your job in St. Louis and you are weighing what to do about it, our attorneys can tell you where you stand. Consultations are free and confidential. We will listen to what occurred, explain how Missouri and federal law apply, and outline the options without pressure to decide that day. New inquiries generally receive a response within one business day. Contact us to speak with an employment attorney in St. Louis, MO who represents workers rather than employers.

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