Ann-Marie Ahern

Ann-Marie Ahern has devoted her entire career to representing people in employment disputes. Ann-Marie, who heads the firm’s Employment practice, is a dedicated, tireless advocate and trusted advisor. Over the past twenty-five years, she has successfully litigated hundreds of employment disputes on behalf of her clients. As a Certified Specialist in Labor and Employment Law, Ann-Marie is knowledgeable of all facets of employment law and represents employees at each stage of the employment relationship. She approaches her practice with the understanding that a career is more than a paycheck, and that the loss of a job can be devastating.

Ann-Marie is an award-winning advocate and one of the top Labor and Employment Specialists in Ohio. For years, she has been for recognized for her high caliber work in “Litigation – Labor and Employment” and “Employment Law – Individuals” by Best Lawyers in America® and was named Cleveland “Lawyer of the Year” (2020, 2022) for her work in these areas. She has also been recognized by Super Lawyers as one of the Top 25 female lawyers in Cleveland and one of the Top 100 lawyers in Ohio. In 2018 and 2022, she was named a “Notable in Law” and “Notable Woman in Law” by Crain’s Cleveland Business. She has also been named a Top 100 Trial Lawyer by The National Trial Lawyers. She is a frequent speaker across all areas of employment law and has been quoted for her expertise in Time.com, The Washington Post, and SHRM.

Ann-Marie has tried cases involving issues of age discrimination, sex discrimination and sexual harassment, race discrimination, disability discrimination/ failure to accommodate, wrongful discharge, non-compete issues, breach of contract, and illegal retaliation. She has been at the forefront of the #MeToo and sexual harassment awareness movement and has been a steadfast supporter of victims of all forms of illegal discrimination. During the course of her career, she has obtained verdicts and settlements on behalf of her clients in excess of $70 million.

Ann-Marie also advocates on behalf of federal and state whistleblowers. She is committed to preventing and correcting fraud against the government. She represents relators in False Claims Act matters and helped her client secure an $11 million reward for his role as a whistleblower in one of the largest False Claims Act recoveries in US History.

Ann-Marie also regularly represents executives and other managers in negotiating employment agreements, severance agreements, and separation packages. She understands the complexities and sensitivities involved when high-level employees transition from one company to another. Ann-Marie is experienced in the change in control agreements, as well as non-compete agreements.

Ann-Marie advises corporate clients as to employment law compliance and human resources practices. When companies receive complaints regarding sexual harassment, they often turn to Ann-Marie to serve as an impartial investigator of those claims.