Letting an Employee Go: Legalities and Sensitivities All Managers Must Know

D. Wes Sullenger

Sullenger Law Office, PLLC

• Managing member of Sullenger Law Office, PLLC
• Represents both employers and employees in all manner of employment disputes involving illegal discrimination, harassment, wage and hour violations, non-competition agreements, wrongful termination, retaliation, workplace policies and handbooks, contract matters, and civil rights violations throughout Kentucky, Tennessee, and Illinois, where he is licensed
• He began his career in Nashville, Tennessee where he represented employers of all sizes in employment and commercial litigation
• In 2005, he left private practice to spend some time in academia, publishing several articles in the area of First Amendment law and employment law but, ultimately, in 2007, he opened the Sullenger Law Office, PLLC in his hometown of Paducah, Kentucky
• Regularly presents seminars relating to the Americans with Disabilities Act, illegal discrimination, and valuation and mediation of employment matters
• Has published several articles relating to his practice including ‘Silencing the Blogosphere: A First Amendment Caution to Legislators Considering Using Internet Blogs to Communicate Directly With Constituents,’ 14 Professional Journal 20 (Fall 2007) (American Society of Legislative Clerks & Secretaries – National Conference of State Legislatures); ‘The Pitfalls of Prescription Drugs: What To Do When You Think An Employee Is Addicted,’ An Address to the Four Rivers Society for Human Resource Management (Paducah, KY Sept. 25, 2007), http://www.sullengerfirm.com/articles/PrescriptionDrugs.pdf; ‘Silencing the Blogosphere: A First Amendment Caution to Legislators Considering Using Internet Blogs to Communicate Directly With Constituents’ Richmond Journal of Law and Technology, 13 Rich. J.L. & Tech. 15 (2007) http://law.richmond.edu/jolt/v13i4/article15.pdf; ‘Burning the Flag: A Conservative Defense of Radical Speech and Why It Matters Now,’ University of Louisville Brandeis Law Journal, 43 Brandeis L.J. 597 (Summer 2005); ‘Only We Can Save You: Why and When Non-Consumer Businesses Have Standing to Sue Business Competitors Under The Tennessee Consumer Protection Act,’ University of Memphis Law Review, 35 U. Mem. L. Rev. 485 (Spring 2005) and ‘Unbiased Investigations Essential to Alleged Employee Wrongdoing,’ Business Insider (Tennessee Chamber of Commerce and Industry) (November 2004) Co-author with R. Eddie Wayland, Esq.
• J.D. Degree, with high honors, Chicago-Kent College of Law; B.A. Degree in history, summa cum laude, University of Louisville