As both in-house and outside counsel, Garrett is experienced advising clients across industries and platforms, most recently restaurant, hotel and hospitality, airline, logistics, financial services, and technology companies, to institute policies and procedures to reduce risk and comply with state and federal laws. He advises and defends multinational to local companies in all areas of employment law, from recruitment and onboarding through separation and post-employment issues. Garrett brings his considerable experience to bear as a member of the firm’s global Retail & Consumer Goods group, where he focuses primarily on restaurant and food service clients.
Areas of focus include, but are not limited to, workplace investigations, worker classification and remote work issues, mileage reimbursement (e.g., delivery drivers), prosecuting and defending trade secrets and restrictive covenant matters, equal pay, privacy protection, background checks and drug testing, separation and severance agreements, harassment, whistleblower complaints, U.S. state and federal agency charges, single and multi-plaintiff matters, wage and hour representative, class and collective actions, and proceedings governed by the RLA and LMRA.
Before returning to Reed Smith, Garrett was senior counsel for employment with Flynn Restaurant Group, the largest restaurant franchisee in the U.S. In this role, he provided full-service employment support to the c-suite and senior management for the company's six brands, in 44 states, and covering over 70,000 employees.
