Michael W Johnston

Examples of Mr. Johnston’s Litigation Experience

• Lead counsel for Bank of New York Mellon in an action to enforce non-compete and non-solicitation of customers covenants signed by three senior executives who defected to a competitor with no notice.  When the district court refused to enforce the covenants, Mr. Johnston represented BNY Mellon in their emergency appeal to the Eleventh Circuit, which reversed the district court and ordered that it grant the injunctive relief requested by BNY Mellon.
  
  
• Lead counsel for GlaxoSmithKline in a four week jury trial involving allegation of FMLA retaliation and interference and retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  All of plaintiff’s claims were dismissed by the trial court at the end of the evidence.  This dismissal was affirmed by the  Eleventh Circuit on appeal, at which Mr. Johnston argued for GSK.  The plaintiff was ordered to pay GSK over $120,000 in litigation expenses.
  
  
• Lead counsel for The Coca-Cola Company in a nationwide class action alleging discrimination on the basis of race with respect to compensation, promotion, and placement. In the midst of this case, the Company announced its first ever company-wide reduction in force, during which the Company reduced its workforce, including many class members, by over 6,000 positions. Mr. Johnston coordinated the legal advice to managers executing the reduction in force with the defense of the class action resulting in successful resolution of the class action and no challenges to the legality of the reduction in force process or its results.
  
  
• Lead counsel for The Coca-Cola Company in a series of seventeen lawsuits filed by class members who opted out of the class action settlement and filed separate lawsuits. The plaintiffs were represented by famed plaintiffs’ trial lawyer, Willie Gary. Five of these cases resulted in summary judgment, dismissing all claims against the Company and requiring the plaintiffs to pay the Company’s cost of litigation. The remaining cases were all resolved for the same amount or less than the plaintiffs would have received had the plaintiffs remained members of the class. In several cases, plaintiffs received as little as sixty percent of what they would have received had they remained members of the class.
  
  
• Lead counsel for The Coca-Cola Company in both the administrative and judicial litigation of one of the first ever Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower cases. The case was dismissed on summary judgment after Mr. Johnston’s investigation and deposition of the plaintiff established that the plaintiff had fabricated evidence. The plaintiff was required to pay The Coca-Cola Company’s cost of litigation.
  
  
• Represented a major pharmaceutical company in whistleblower litigation involving allegations of retaliation resulting from disclosure of alleged improper promotion of pharmaceuticals.
  
  
• Represented a major pharmaceutical company to enforce restrictive covenants in the employment agreement of a senior executive officer w ho defected to the company’s major competitor.  This matter involved lawsuits in three different U.S. District Courts, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals and the state courts of two states.
  
  
• Lead counsel for Zale Corporation in the successful defense of a nationwide class action filed in the Northern District of Texas alleging discrimination on the basis of race in compensation, promotion and store placement.
  
  
• Lead counsel for Zale Corporation in the successful defense of a nationwide class action filed in the Middle District of Tennessee alleging discrimination on the basis of race in compensation, promotion and store placement. Class certification was avoided and the case was settled for less than $10,000.
  
  
• Lead counsel for The Coca-Cola Company in an ERISA class action challenging the company’s right to offset benefits received from other sources from benefits paid by Coca-Cola’s LTD plan. The class allegations were dismissed on summary judgment.
  
  
• Lead counsel for The Coca-Cola Company in the successful defense of claims under ERISA by a former contract employee asserting that non-employee workers were entitled to benefits under the Company’s benefit plans.
  
  
• Lead counsel for Zale Corporation, the nation’s largest retail jeweler, in a successful effort to enforce the restrictive covenants contained in an agreement between Zale and one of its former senior executives who went to work for a competitor.
  
  
• Lead counsel in the successful defense of a nationwide brokerage firm in a sexual harassment case brought by multiple female employees involving allegations of attempted rape, sodomy, and sexual assault by a company executive.
  
  
• Lead counsel on behalf of a Fortune 100 company in one of the first cases under the Americans with Disabilities Act involving Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Disorder. When plaintiff’s claims were dismissed on summary judgment by the trial court, Mr. Johnston argued the appeal before the Eleventh Circuit establishing law very favorable to employers regarding the duty to accommodate under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
  
  
• Lead counsel in the successful defense of a national educational institution in a sensitive ERISA lawsuit involving benefits claimed on behalf of a child with severe birth defects. Mr. Johnston established that the hospital, which had agreed to pay benefits on behalf of the child, failed to pay the required premiums and then attempted to cover up its failure with fabricated evidence.