C.J.Eaton

Senior Counsel

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C.J. partners with clients to help them navigate the complex maze of state and federal employment laws and develop practical, business-friendly compliance solutions.


More About C.J.

The landscape of federal and state employment laws is complex and constantly evolving. For most employers, keeping track of these changing laws and understanding the practical implications to their businesses is a daily challenge, whether they operate in one state or many. In addition, many employers must navigate industry-specific non-employment laws and regulations that often seem at odds with employment laws. C.J. guides clients through these complexities and advises them on developing practical, compliant solutions.

C.J.’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.

C.J. 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. C.J. 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. C.J. 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.

C.J. 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, C.J. counsels clients on employment-related matters.

Before switching the focus of her practice to counseling, C.J. spent years defending employers in class action and single-plaintiff employment litigation. Her experience as a litigator informs her counseling practice, providing her with firsthand knowledge of the disputes that land employers in court and a unique perspective on litigation avoidance.

  • JD, Georgetown University Law Center
  • AB, Brown University
  • Massachusetts
  • US Court of Appeals, First Circuit
  • US District Court, District of Massachusetts