Overview
Sarah Belger is an employment attorney in Holland & Knight's Tysons office. Ms. Belger advises clients on the employment law aspects of corporate transactions at all stages of the acquisition and sale process.
Ms. Belger counsels employers on all legal issues affecting the workplace, including executive compensation, compliance with wage and hour laws, anti-discrimination and anti-harassment laws, leave requirements, employee privacy, whistleblower protections, disability accommodations and government contractor obligations. She also leverages her decades of experience as a trial attorney litigating complex employment-related disputes involving restrictive covenants, defamation, business torts and trade secret litigation.
Ms. Belger has demonstrated experience counseling employers in several industries, including government contracting, Alaska Native Corporations, professional services, information technology, healthcare, hospitality, financial services, food and beverage, nonprofit organizations and utility providers.
Known for her pragmatic business communication and listening skills, Ms. Belger is praised by clients for her extensive knowledge of their businesses, as well as her ability to provide common-sense advice and effective representation both in the courtroom and the boardroom.
Ms. Belger has obtained injunctions in multiple cases that prohibited individuals from competing against clients and has successfully represented employers who have hired individuals with non-compete or confidentiality agreements. In addition to her litigation experience, she counsels employers on how to draft non-compete and secrecy agreements.
In addition to her legal practice, Ms. Belger frequently speaks on employment law issues and presents numerous topics for the Virginia Continuing Legal Education (CLE).
Prior to joining Holland & Knight Ms. Belger was an attorney at a multidisciplinary law firm in Washington, D.C.
Representative Experience
- Defends employers before federal, state and appellate courts, administrative agencies and in arbitration settings
- Counsels and defends clients under Title VII, Section 1981, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act), federal and state whistleblower statutes and other federal, state and local laws
- Litigates collective action and class action claims arising under federal and state wage and hour laws, including the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA); also litigates Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) pension, fiduciary and severance claims in multiple federal courts
- Counsels employers on how to avoid discrimination charges and lawsuits
- Assists organizations on a variety of employment matters, including disciplinary decisions, reductions in force, employee handbooks, drug testing, executive agreements, disability accommodations and defamation
- Drafts employment contracts for executives
- Served as lead attorney for a client with $1.3 billion in revenue in its successful defense of race and national origin claims brought by a former employee
- Obtained a preliminary injunction for a government contractor against a business development manager in a restrictive covenant and trade secrets case
- Led a nonprofit organization's successful defense in an arbitration filed by a former CEO who alleged defamation and disability discrimination
- Served as lead attorney for a 14,000-employee company in its successful defense of sexual orientation and national origin claims brought by a former employee
- Successfully argued and defended appeals in disability and race discrimination cases in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth and Sixth Circuits
Credentials
- The George Washington University Law School, J.D., with high honors
- Washington and Lee University, B.A., magna cum laude
- District of Columbia
- Maryland
- Virginia
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
- U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia
- Fairfax Bar Association
- Bar Association of the District of Columbia
- Virginia Bar Association
- The Best Lawyers in America guide, Employment Law: Management, 2019-2023
- Virginia Business Magazine Legal Elite, Labor & Employment, 2015-2017, 2020
- Rising Star, Washington, D.C., Super Lawyers magazine, Employment Litigation: Defense, Employment and Labor, 2013-2017
- Rising Star, Virginia Super Lawyers magazine, Employment Litigation: Defense, Employment and Labor, 2012-2017
- Order of the Coif, The George Washington University School of Law
- American Bar Association and Bloomberg Bureau of National Affairs (ABA/BNA) Award for Outstanding Study in Labor and Employment Law, 2004