Blair A. Harrington

Blair is a nationally recognized employment law attorney known for her practical, results-driven approach to complex legal challenges. She advises and defends organizations across the country in matters involving employee mobility, restrictive covenants, trade secrets theft and unfair competition, breach of contract, data privacy and information, and artificial intelligence. Blair also routinely defends employers in discrimination, harassment, retaliation, whistleblower, and wage and hour disputes.

Blair has significant experience defending clients in high-stakes class action litigation brought under the Illinois Biometric Privacy Act as well as state and federal wage and hour laws.

Blair’s litigation expertise is complemented by her active counseling practice. She guides employers through proactive measures to ensure compliance and implement risk management strategies that align with their business goals through hiring, performance management, discipline, and termination. Blair advises employers on drafting enforceable employment and restrictive covenant agreements and designing hiring, transition, and separation policies and strategies to protect trade secrets and proprietary information. She also counsels and trains employers on the use and integration of artificial intelligence tools in the workplace in compliance with applicable laws.

• Successfully obtained dismissal of conversion and breach of fiduciary duty claims as preempted under the Illinois Trade Secrets Act and dismissal of a breach of contract claim as superseded by a subsequent contract on behalf of strapping company
• Successfully prosecuted and resolved non-compete litigation in favor of insurance company against two former key sales employees
• Successfully resolved arbitration dispute on behalf of hospice company resulting from the breach of critical representations and warranties in an Asset Purchase Agreement arising out of purchase of hospice facility
• Successfully resolved trade secrets dispute on behalf of screw, bolt and nut manufacturer against licensee
• Successfully obtained no probable cause determinations on behalf of packaging and labeling company for discrimination and retaliation charges brought by multiple employees
• Successfully defended non-compete and non-solicitation dispute on behalf of hospice company and c-suite officer against competitor
• Successfully obtained denial of a temporary restraining order for strapping company against a competitor alleging trade secrets misappropriation
• Successful labor arbitration: arbitrator found that nationwide contact center had just cause to terminate union grievant’s employment after grievant failed to comply with the union contract
• Successfully obtained dismissal for coffee company in suit brought by terminated employee alleging negligence, fraud and intentional infliction of emotional distress
• Successfully resolved breach of contract dispute in favor of airline company against its baggage handler
• Successfully defended television broadcasting company in age discrimination arbitration
• Successfully defended employers in numerous lawsuits involving discrimination and retaliation claims
• Successfully defended employers in several workers classification disputes, including misclassification claims brought by independent contractors and insurance carriers
• Successfully managed and resolved state and city agency inquiries, investigations and administrative complaints related to worker classification, sick and safe time, wage and hour and OSHA violations
• Successfully resolved contested probate in favor of religious community involving claims of lack of capacity and undue influence
• Successful court trial: prosecuted breach of contract dispute on behalf of contractor for unpaid labor
• Successfully defended employers in several workers classification disputes, including misclassification claims brought by independent contractors and insurance carriers

• Presenter, “The Business of Law”, University of Minnesota Law School (November 2023)
• Presenter, “Unfair Competition and Trade Secrets – How To Avoid the Most Common Sand Traps,” Teeing Up 2022 Employment and Labor Law Developments Seminar (Oct. 12, 2022)
• Co-Presenter, “Unfair Competition and Trade Secrets – The Pitfalls of Commencing Litigation without Following Best Practices,” Association of Corporate Counsel Minnesota 2022 Breakfast Seminar (June 22, 2022)
• Co-Author, “Safeguarding Your Company’s Trade Secrets During the Great Resignation,” The Illinois Manufacturer (April 2022)
• Presenter, “Non-Competition Agreements in Illinois: 2022 Changes and Challenges,” Illinois State Bar Association CLE Webinar (Dec. 15, 2021)
• Co-author, “Notice and Response Obligations Clarified Under OCR’s July 2021 Title IX Q&A,” Taft Law Bulletin (Sept. 9, 2021)
• Co-author, “Summary of Minnesota’s Face Covering Requirements,” Taft Law Bulletin (July 24, 2020)
• Panelist, Sleep and Well-Being – Discussing the importance of sleep, its impact on performance, and how to manage workloads, MSBA Virtual Convention (June 2020)
• Presenter, Legal Business and Usual: The Diploma Privilege, MSBA Webcast Series (May 2020)
• Q&A, Colleague Corner: Meet Blair Harrington: ‘A member of a team and part of a community,’ Bench & Bar of Minnesota (March 2020)
• Author, “The Power of the Privilege Log,” Bench & Bar of Minnesota (May 2018)