Extraterritorial & Local Law Claims

Multinational U.S. corporations often send U.S. executives and other employees to work abroad. In those situations, the employee may have rights under the laws of both the U.S. (the home country) and the foreign host country. The applicability of the laws of the host country to an expatriate may depend on the choice-of-law provisions in employment agreements and the laws of the foreign or host country.

When local law applies, local counsel should be consulted. O&G attorneys have a network of international and local lawyers in many foreign countries with whom we work to ensure that our clients obtain reliable information and advice. Outten & Golden attorneys represent individuals and classes of employees in cases in which a U.S. citizen is working abroad and is covered by a U.S. statute that has extraterritorial effect abroad or in which a foreign employee is working in the U.S. and is covered by U.S. laws. Certain U.S. anti-discrimination and anti-retaliation statutes protect U.S. citizens working outside the U.S. for U.S. companies or companies controlled by U.S. companies; these statutes include Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments (ADAA), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA), and to a degree, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). Also, knowing when an employer can legally discriminate against its employees because certain treaties and other special laws/exceptions exist is key to advising U.S. and non-U.S. employees regarding potential U.S. discrimination claims. As plaintiff attorneys who represent only individual employees in such disputes, we have no conflicts, nor are we compromised in pursuing claims zealously across borders.