Mr. Bergmann is a partner in the Chicago office of Seyfarth Shaw LLP. He represents both private and public sector clients with respect to labor and personnel relations, collective bargaining, EEO/affirmative action matters and Fair Labor Standards Act matters. Mr. Bergmann also represents quasi-public health care providers and social service agencies. He has represented such clients in a wide variety of proceedings, including federal court and agency proceedings involving employment, and civil rights and labor law litigation, State Wage Claim Act proceedings, Prevailing Wage Act litigation, injunction actions and proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board and its regions.

Mr. Bergmann has represented private and public employers, throughout the United States, in administrative and court litigation under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act and State Acts for over 30 years. He has handled class actions under state wage payment laws in numerous states and handled collective actions under FLSA throughout the country both at the district court, federal appellate court and Supreme Court levels. The collective actions have involved potential plaintiffs from several hundred to over 18,000. Mr. Bergmann has also conducted numerous exempt status reviews for both public and private sector employers including conducting several reviews and Wage and Hour Compliance audits which have involved upwards of 1,000 positions. In addition, he has also provided advice to numerous Fortune 100 and 500 corporations on compliance with state and federal FLSA statutes and avoidance of litigation under those statutes. He has provided such assistance to several of the top insurance companies and financial institutions.

Since the Supreme Court’s Garcia decision and the FLSA Amendatory Act, he has spoken to numerous public associations about their implications, in addition to his numerous private sector presentations. He has given advice on this subject to states, counties, cities, fire protection districts, sanitary districts, park districts, forest preserve districts, school districts, colleges and universities throughout the United States. He has advised and represented public employers in Fair Labor Standards Act litigation brought following the Amendatory Act. He was quoted by the Bureau of National Affairs in its publication, “Public Sector Overtime Pay” (BNA 1985). He has spoken to numerous private and public sector conferences across the country on Wage and Hour Compliance and has served as an expert witness on the subject. He participated in the General Accounting Office’s review of the White Collar Exemptions to the FLSA which culminated in a published report to Congress by GAO. He has also spoken to numerous private sector groups on their response to the exploding nature of wage and hour litigation in the last 15 years and how to avoid and minimize litigation risks. Recently he has provided guidance on compliance with the revised federal exempt status regulations.