Tracy Richelle High

Employment

• A financial institution regarding significant diversity and inclusion initiatives, including identification of litigation risks to consider and associated mitigation strategies.
• A company in conducting an internal investigation in connection with an anonymous letter raising allegations of racial bias in connection with the company’s hiring and promotion practices and concerns about the company’s perceived lack of responsiveness to employee complaints. Tracy presented the findings of this investigation to a special committee of the board.
• A national sports league in conducting an internal investigation and advising in connection with allegations in the press regarding the culture at one of the teams in the league, including allegations that the team owner and a high-level executive reportedly made racist and sexist comments.

• A major professional sports league in the procurement of the dismissal of age discrimination and retaliation charges filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission by a former employee.
• A major manufacturer of automobiles in its defense of two employment discrimination class actions.
• A consumer and retail company in an investigation concerning allegations of racial bias and microaggressions in the workplace.

Criminal Defense & Investigations

• JPMorgan Chase in its $920 million settlement with the DOJ, CFTC and SEC to resolve their joint investigations of trading practices on its precious metals and U.S. Treasuries trading desks.

Arbitration

• Banco Popular in a >$200 million series of disputes in AAA arbitration with the US FDIC arising out of the purchase of nonperforming assets from the FDIC as receiver of a failed bank. One matter was settled on the eve of the scheduled hearing in October 2014, two others were tried to completion and confidential awards in August and November 2016. A fourth arbitration between the parties under the same agreement was settled in February 2017.

Antitrust

• Barclays in the global antitrust investigations launched by numerous agencies and regulators into allegations of rate rigging of foreign exchange trading. The S&C team negotiated a favorable settlement on behalf of Barclays with all of the major FOREX investigators in May 2015.

M&A Litigation

• The former directors of Hudson City Bancorp, Inc. (HCB) in obtaining the dismissal of a putative class action shareholder suit against S&C clients HCB and its former directors, as well as M&T Bank (M&T) and M&T’s board of directors stemming from the $3.7 billion merger between HCB and M&T.

Complex Litigation and Trials

• Airbnb in obtaining a preliminary injunction preventing the City of New York from implementing a new ordinance intended to collect personal data about the users of short-term rental platforms, which Airbnb argues is invalid under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. This case has significant implications, not just for Airbnb, but potentially for any business concerned about protecting the privacy of its users.
• Volkswagen in litigation brought by State Attorneys General arising out of allegations that Volkswagen’s diesel vehicles emitted nitrogen oxides in excess of the limits imposed by applicable U.S. law.
• A leading Broadway producer and theater operator in a bench trial of breach of contract and fiduciary duty claims brought by the co-owner of a San Francisco theater business in the Delaware Court of Chancery. The trial court dismissed the principal claims and awarded no damages.

Speaking Engagements and Publications

• Participated in the panel “Managing in Changing Times: Law Firm Management Roundtable” at My Brother’s Keeper | My Sister’s Keeper’s 2024 Fellowship Summit Stronger Together: Harnessing the Power of Community (June 7, 2024)
• Participated in the panel “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & the Risk of ‘Reverse’ Discrimination” hosted by the New York City Bar Association’s Employment Law Institute (March 1, 2024)
• Participated in the panel “Advancement of Women Lawyers: New Best Practices for a Better Tomorrow” hosted by the New York City Bar Association (February 15, 2024)
• Participated in a panel titled “The State of Corporate Efforts in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations (October 30, 2023)
• Participated in a panel titled “Overruling Grutter: What Does the Supreme Court’s Opinion on Affirmative Action Mean for Diversity Initiatives & the Pipeline to Law Firms & Financial Institutions?” hosted by the New York City Bar Association (July 13, 2023)
• Moderated a panel on “The Future of Remote Work” at the New York State Bar Association’s Fall Meeting of the Labor and Employment Law Section (October 15, 2021)
• Participated in a panel titled “Employment Issues Facing Executives Arising out of Government Investigations” hosted by the New York City Bar Association (September 13, 2021)
• Presented on “Attracting and Retaining a Diverse Board and Staff” at the New York City Bar Association’s 8th Annual Not-For-Profit Law Institute (November 13, 2020)
• Participated in a panel at the Federal Bar Council’s 2020 Employment Law Update (November 12, 2020)
• Co-Author of Chapter 65 of the treatise “Commercial Litigation in New York State Courts,” addressing appeals to the NY Court of Appeals, for Thomson Reuters (October 2020)
• Participated in a panel titled “Religious Discrimination in the 2020 Workplace” as part of PLI’s Employment Discrimination Law and Litigation 2020 (June 15, 2020)
• Co-wrote the article “Employers’ Guide to Return-to-Work Considerations During the COVID-19 Outbreak” for Reuters Westlaw (April 2020)
• Co-wrote the article “Employers’ Guide to the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act and During the Coronavirus Outbreak” for the Thomson Reuters COVID-19 Resource Center (March 2020)
• Spoke on the panel, “Know Your Forum for Discrimination Cases: Federal Court, State Court, Arbitration, or Agencies” at the Sixth Annual Employment Law Institute, hosted by the New York City Bar Association (March 6, 2020)
• Wrote the article, “Recent SEC Enforcement Actions Involving Revenue Recognition Fraud,” in the quarterly journal, PLI Current: The Journal of PLI Press (March 2020)
• Participated in a panel titled, “An Ounce of Prevention, A Pound of Cure: Compliance and Internal Investigations” at the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers’ 15th Annual White Collar Crime Conference in Washington, D.C. (October 24, 2019)
• Led a one-hour PLI briefing on mandatory arbitration agreements in the wake of #MeToo (July 31, 2019)
• Presented an update on employment law at the New York City Bar Association’s 7th Annual Not-For-Profit Law Institute (March 29, 2019)
• Moderated a panel concerning “Discovery Disputes in Employment Law Cases” as part of PLI’s Employment Law Institute 2018 (October 17, 2018)
• Co-wrote the article “Market Trends 2017/18: Whistleblower Protections” for Lexis Practice Advisor (June 2018)
• Wrote the paper “2017 Enforcement Trends in Accounting Fraud,” which was presented at PLI’s Basics for Accounting Lawyers: What Every Practicing Lawyer Needs to Know (May 18, 2018)
• Spoke on Ethics for Employment Lawyers at the New York City Bar Association Employment Law Institute (March 1, 2018)