Profile

Stacy Wood has been defending employers and educational institutions successfully for more than 20 years, with a focus on discrimination, harassment and ERISA litigation. She is a pragmatic adviser and problem solver for businesses of all sizes, colleges, universities and K-12 schools throughout North Carolina and South Carolina.  

Whether she is offering guidance regarding a sensitive FMLA/ADA situation, drafting an underperforming executive’s termination agreement or defending against a volatile sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit, Ms. Wood’s practical, solution-oriented approach enables her clients to achieve their goals in a timely and cost-efficient manner.

Experience Highlights

Ms. Wood regularly advises and represents clients in the following areas:

• Administrative proceedings and litigation on behalf of employers in North Carolina and South Carolina state and federal courts involving claims of discrimination, harassment and retaliation based on age, race, gender, disability, religion and national origin 
• Denial of benefit and breach of fiduciary duty lawsuits under ERISA
• Wrongful discharge, retaliation, breach of contract, infliction of emotional distress and other state law claims arising out of the employment relationship
• ADA and FMLA counseling and compliance
• FLSA and state wage and hour claims, including compliance reviews, audits, employee exemption determinations and litigation
• Transactional employment matters, including preparation of employment contracts, restrictive covenants, employee handbooks and employment policies, executive separation agreements, and employment issues relating to reductions in force
• Employment and other legal issues, including Title IX compliance, that are unique to public and private colleges, universities and K-12 schools

Representative Matters:

Some of Ms. Wood’s recent representative matters include:

• Obtained summary judgment on behalf of a Fortune 100 company in a South Carolina federal court lawsuit alleging ADEA, FMLA, ERISA and breach of contract claims
• Successfully represented a Fortune 200 company in the negotiation and settlement of an administrative whistleblower complaint and a companion state court defamation lawsuit alleging blacklisting
• Obtained dismissal of a sexual harassment, infliction of emotional distress and wrongful discharge claim in a North Carolina federal court against a manufacturing company and its president
• Achieved a favorable negotiated resolution for a North Carolina educational institution in connection with a state court breach of contract lawsuit filed by an athletic coach challenging his termination

News

• Forty-Four Parker Poe Attorneys Named 2013 NC Super Lawyers
  January 18, 2013
• The National Labor Relations Board Weighs in on Social Media Policies and Facebook Firings
  Public Company Forum: Fall 2012
  November 1, 2012
• 74 Parker Poe Attorneys Recognized as Best Lawyers® for 2013
  August 23, 2012
• Chambers USA 2012 Ranks Parker Poe as Leading Law Firm
  June 7, 2012
• Forty-Two Parker Poe Attorneys Named as 2012 NC Super Lawyers
  January 20, 2012
• 69 Parker Poe Attorneys Recognized as Best Lawyers® for 2012
  September 6, 2011
• Chambers USA 2011 Ranks Parker Poe as Leading Law Firm
  June 10, 2011
• 61 Parker Poe Attorneys Recognized as Best Lawyers® for 2011
  August 18, 2010
• Chambers USA 2010 Ranks Parker Poe as Leading Law Firm
  June 11, 2010
• Podcast: ADAAA Proposed Regulations for Definition of Disability
  October 30, 2009
• 55 Parker Poe Attorneys Recognized as Best Lawyers®
  July 30, 2009
• Parker Poe Increases Number of Attorneys Recognized as Best Lawyers in America
  October 1, 2008
• More than 50 Parker Poe Attorneys among Business Leader's Top Lawyers
  September 24, 2008
• Twenty-One Parker Poe Attorneys Among "Legal Elite" for 2008
  January 14, 2008
• 40 Parker Poe Attorneys Named Among 2008 Best Lawyers in America
  September 14, 2007
• Parker Poe Attorneys Named to Best Lawyers in America
  September 12, 2006
• Parker Poe's Stacy K. Wood Honored in Charlotte Business Journal's 40 under 40
  June 13, 2005
• South Carolina Enacts "At-Will"/Handbook Statute 2. Changes to FLSA Overtime Regulations
  EmployNews
  May 18, 2004
• North Carolina Court Upholds Liquidated Damages Clause as Alternative to Covenant not to Compete in Physician Contract
  January 22, 2003