Ashley Z. Hager

Ashley works with companies of all sizes – from public companies to startups – providing employment-related counseling, drafting the contracts they need to both retain their executives and protect their company’s confidential information and customer relationships, and defending them in litigation.

With each client, Ashley helps members of management and human resources protect their company and minimize employment-related problems by providing general employment and human-resources consulting on issues such as compensation structures, leaves and discipline, disability and fitness-for-duty issues, outsourcing arrangements, employee and manager handbooks, federal contractor obligations, and employee privacy issues. Clients also call on Ashley when they are ready to audit their employment practices, need to investigate complaints of harassment, or just want to brainstorm solutions to knotty problems involving employees.

A significant portion of Ashley’s practice involves the drafting and defense of agreements with executives and other employees. These agreements range from employment agreements with executives to noncompete, nondisclosure, and nonsolicitation agreements with other employees. Ashley also drafts expatriate, retention, and separation agreements for clients, as well as commission plans and severance plans.

With more than 20 years of litigation experience, Ashley is able to handle single-plaintiff and multiplaintiff harassment, discrimination and retaliation litigation for employers under Title VII, Section 1981, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the Family and Medical Leave Act, as well as individual and collective actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). She also is ready to help clients respond to audits and investigations by the EEOC, the Department of Labor and the OFCCP. Where appropriate, Ashley partners with eMerge, the firm’s eDiscovery provider, to ensure that electronic documents are collected, reviewed, analyzed, and produced in an efficient manner.

• Conducted an FLSA audit of hundreds of positions at a national retail company’s headquarters, leveraging an in-house audit tool to manage the data, job descriptions, interviews, decisions, and approvals. Designed the process, oversaw interviews, calibrated results, and presented recommendations to executives.
• Obtained a favorable result at the summary judgment stage, upheld twice on appeal, in defending a disability discrimination case. Set new precedent in the Eleventh Circuit with respect to Section 12112(d)(3)(C) claims concerning the use of medical exams under the ADA.
• Revamped a Fortune 15 company’s system for managing employee medical leaves and accommodations, which involved surveying HR partners to determine the scope of problems, brainstorming regarding potential solutions, surveying peer companies, presenting solutions to management, and training on a new process.
• Obtained summary judgment in a case involving fraud and breach of fiduciary duty claims brought by 23 former employees, and was awarded attorneys’ fees in connection with race discrimination claims brought by three of those employees.
• Drafted a suite of employment-related agreements for an international company, including restrictive covenant agreements, executive employment agreements, retention agreements, and release agreements.

• Best Lawyers in America®: Employment Law – Management (2013-2026)
• Chambers USA: Labor & Employment, Georgia (2010-2025)
• Multicultural Media, Telecom & Internet Council: “Distinguished Pro Bono Service” Award (2019)
• Law & Politics and Atlanta Magazine: “Super Lawyer” in Labor and Employment Law (2009-2017)
• Georgia Trend Magazine: “Legal Elite” in Labor and Employment Law (2004, 2008, 2011-2013)