Chris Pape named to board of directors for chamber of commerce
For 2018, Lanier Ford shareholder Chris Pape has been named as a young professional member of the board of directors of the Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of Commerce.
The primary focus of Mr. Pape’s practice is helping school boards to navigate complex employment, constitutional, and equity matters. In 2014, Mr. Pape began working, extensively, on Huntsville City Schools’ desegregation litigation, Hereford and the United States v. Huntsville City Board of Education. Mr. Pape was instrumental in litigating this matter in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. Following the court’s order to mediate this matter, he was an integral part of the team of lawyers that represented the Huntsville City Board of Education in court-ordered mediation. As a member of that team, Mr. Pape helped craft the joint proposed consent order between the United States and the Huntsville City Board of Education. By participating in mediation and by presenting the proposed consent order to the court, Mr. Pape advises school boards about the design and implementation of equitable desegregation devices, such as school zone lines, magnet programs, and majority-to-minority transfer programs.
In addition, Mr. Pape’s practice involves guiding public and private entities through complex civil rights and employment issues. Mr. Pape regularly assists employers in reviewing and drafting employee handbooks for legal compliance, developing policies and procedures to prevent inconsistent or unlawful employment practices, counseling administrative employees to ensure implementation of procedures, and complying with federal and state laws such as the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the National Labor Relations Act, and the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN). In addition to serving in an advisory capacity, Mr. Pape’s practice consists of defending employers in litigation involving wage and hour claims; FMLA retaliation and discrimination claims; and employment discrimination on the basis of race, sex, gender, religion, national origin, or disability.
