Karl P. Schlecht

Karl Schlecht is a partner in Tressler's Professional Liability and Employment Group in the Orange County office. He provides management-side labor and employment litigation defense before federal and state courts in class actions, single-plaintiff litigation and administrative agency proceedings involving the Fair Labor Standards Act, the ADA, Title VII, the ADEA and OSHA. His practice also includes a variety of other federal, state and local wage and hour, discrimination, breach of contract, wrongful discharge, labor and workplace tort claims.

In addition to litigation defense, counsels employers in connection with a broad array of employee relations issues, including wage and hour, affirmative action and equal employment opportunity matters. He advises management on complex issues arising in employment actions (including, but not limited to, individual or group terminations from employment) and he prepares and reviews, personnel policies, employee handbooks and other employment-related materials to ensure a compliant and effective employment platform.

Mr. Schlecht’s wage and hour practice includes advice and counsel on complex issues of classification of workers as employees or independent contractors, overtime exemptions and compensation practices regarding mobile workforces. He also has significant experience in protecting and defending businesses in Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) litigation matters as well as related state and federal laws regarding accessibility. He has defended businesses of all sizes in ADA accessibility lawsuits. Mr. Schlecht takes a proactive approach to accessibility compliance, counseling clients on the steps to take to become compliant in order to avoid access litigation.

Prior to joining Tressler, he was a partner at Kimball, Tirey & St. John, where he was Chair of the firm’s Employment Practice Group and the Managing Partner of the Irvine office. While at his previous firm, he was also the lead instructor for the firm’s sexual harassment training program.