Overview

Richard M. Hanchett is a shareholder in the firm’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution Group. His practice areas include a broad range of employment law matters, including employment discrimination law, including Title VII, Chapter 760 of the Florida Statutes and other state and local antidiscrimination provisions; Family Medical Leave Act; Americans with Disabilities Act, including alleged employer discrimination and public accommodation/access claims; wage and hour issues under the Fair Labor Standards Act and Florida law; whistleblower claims; retaliation claims; drug testing and employee privacy in the workplace issues; employment contract disputes; noncompete and restrictive covenants, and employee background checks/FCRA compliance issues. Mr. Hanchett has handled numerous charges of discrimination and other employee issues with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the U.S. Department of Labor, the Florida Commission on Human Rights and local government agencies.

Richard is experienced in products liability (personal injury and property damage claims) litigation representing medical device manufacturers and claims against distributors with respect to agricultural products (allegedly defective fungicide, mulch [film] and tomato stakes) and marine generators. He is also experienced in organ and tissue procurement law, and insurance coverage litigation.

Representative Matters

Employment Law:

  • Representing employers in arbitrations, formal and informal administrative hearings, bench and jury trials in state courts throughout Florida and jury trials in federal courts.
  • Counseling clients in compliance issues, terminations, employee discipline, investigations, personnel practice audits and development, employee counseling and training. He also advises clients with respect to insurance coverage for employment claims and litigates such issues when necessary.

Products Liability:

  • Representation of medical device manufacturer in connection with wrongful death claim alleging failure of telemetry/monitoring devices.
  • Represented medical device manufacturer/medical device maintenance provider in personal injury claim based on radiation burns received during imaging.
  • Represented medical device manufacturer in connection with potential claim that infusion pump cause neonatal injury.
  • Representation of manufacturer of electrical distribution and generation products in multiple personal injury and property damage claims involving transformers, generators, bus bars, uninterruptible power supply devices and surge arresters.

Honors and Distinctions

  • The Best Lawyers in America, Litigation – Labor & Employment; Commercial Litigation; Employment Law Management, 2020 – 2023
  • Tampa Magazine’s Top Lawyers List, 2020-2023
  • AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell
  • Florida Super Lawyers, 2011 – 2021 (10+ year recognition)

Thought Leadership

“Employment Law Update,” co-presenter with Alicia Koepke, Matthews Benefit Group 16th Annual Tax & Business Update, St. Petersburg, FL, June 2016.