Nathan J. Oleson
Partner
Areas of Focus
- Labor & Employment
- Class Actions
- Wage & Hour/Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Litigation & Counseling
- Employment Discrimination/Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Advocacy
- Labor Relations Strategic Advice & Counseling
- Pro Bono
- National Security
- Investment Management
- Technology
- Consumer Protection
- Sports
- Private Equity
- Private Capital
- Focuses on complex employment litigation and counseling.
- Extensive experience advising employers on wage and hour and discrimination matters.
- Represents professional sports associations in high-profile disputes with athletes and officials.
Nathan defends employers in complex litigation involving a range of employment issues, including:
- Wage and hour claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and state wage and hour laws;
- Employment discrimination claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), and the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA);
- High-stakes disputes between sports associations and athletes and officials regarding compensation, discipline, and safety and health;
- Labor issues, including those arising under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA);
- Workplace safety issues and investigations brought by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Nathan has served as counsel in several precedent-setting cases and arbitrations, particularly in the area of wage and hour and sports law. He has been recognized as a Washington, DC “SuperLawyer,” a leader in employment law by The Legal 500, and, in 2012, was named one of the top five “employment lawyers under 40 to watch” by Law360.
Nathan also has served on the editorial board of the American Bar Association’s Section of Labor and Employment Law’s treatise on the FLSA, published by Bloomberg/BNA, for nearly 20 years.
- Advised a major sports association in wage-and-hour litigation challenging the independent contractor status of its officials.
- Represented retail and financial services companies in a nationwide FLSA collective actions challenging the exempt status of their employees.
- Defended an insurance company in a nationwide class action alleging discrimination and retaliation in the context of a corporate reorganization of the company’s agency force.
- Advocated for a retail food service company in multiple state class actions challenging the distribution of gratuities from a common tip container.
- Represented a sports association against an athlete’s challenge to disciplinary suspension.
EducationJ.D., Georgetown University Law Center, magna cum laude, 1999
B.A., American University, cum laude, 1996
J.D., Georgetown University Law Center, magna cum laude, 1999
B.A., American University, cum laude, 1996
Bar AdmissionsDistrict of Columbia
Maryland
District of Columbia
Maryland
- Sports Business Journal, Power Players, 2021.
- Acritas, Acritas Star, 2019.
- Law360, Employment Practice Group of the Year, 2009, 2013, 2015 and 2016.
- Law360, Sports Practice Group of the Year, 2016.
- The Legal 500 US, Labor and Employment, 2017 and 2018; Labor and Employment Disputes (including Collective Actions): Defense, 2019-2022.
- Super Lawyers, Washington, D.C., 2013, 2017, 2019 and 2023.
- ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law, Fair Labor Standards Committee.
- Member, Board of Directors, Sasha Bruce Youthwork.
- “Employment Law Under the Biden Administration,” Association of Corporate Counsel – Southern California webinar, January 26, 2021.
- “Increase in Litigation Expected Under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act Following Illinois Supreme Court Ruling,” Akin Webinar, February 2019
