C.J. Eaton is Counsel in the Wage & Hour Litigation Practice Group in Seyfarth Shaw’s Boston office. Ms. Eaton’s practice focuses on wage and hour matters, including federal and state wage and hour audits, investigations by federal and state agencies, and the defense of collective, class and hybrid actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act and state laws in federal and state courts. She is the principal author and editor-in-chief of Seyfarth’s publication Massachusetts Peculiarities: An Employer’s Guide to Wage & Hour Law in the Bay State.

Ms. Eaton has defended wage payment and tipping class actions under state law. She has also handled a variety of federal class and collective actions involving exempt status, salary basis test, and the tip credit. In these actions, she has had success both in limiting class size and in defeating class certification. Ms. Eaton also provides advice to clients concerning wage and hour law compliance and assists clients in litigation avoidance by conducting audits and assisting in the implementation of new practices focused on compliance with state and federal wage and hour requirements. She also represents clients for purposes of wage and hour investigations conducted by the federal Department of Labor and wage complaints filed with the Massachusetts’ Office of the Attorney General. Ms. Eaton has wage and hour litigation and counseling experience in a number of different industries, including technology and biosciences, professional staffing, financial services, retail, hospitality, transportation and travel, professional services, health care, manufacturing, education, and the public sector.

Ms. Eaton also has experience representing management in a wide variety of other labor and employment law matters. Her litigation experience includes the defense of discrimination claims and employment-related breach of contract and tort claims. In addition, Ms. Eaton counsels clients on employment-related matters.