Employment Law - Management Litigation - Labor and Employment
Stephen R. Woods
Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2010 Awarded Practice Areas
Biography
Stephen Woods represents companies in all aspects of labor and employment law. He assists national, regional, and local clients on counseling/preventive, EEOC and employment litigation, and traditional labor (union) issues and questions. He is the chair of the firm's Background Check Advice Group and the shareholder-author of the firm's O-D Comply: Background Check subscription materials.Stephen lives by a client-centric mantra which combines prevention and practicality to create innovative, business-centered solutions which comply with the law. Making national clients happy and satisfied takes a unique skill set, which Stephen has developed and honed during his work with clients and the firm since 1996. Among the employer-clients with whom Stephen has the pleasure of working as the firm's relationship shareholder are Michaels Stores, Michelin North America, Raycom Media, and US Oncology.Before becoming a lawyer, Stephen served as the Manager of Administrative Services at The Greenville News (Greenville, SC), where he managed the HR function for this 500-employee newspaper publishing company.
Overview
Greenville, South Carolina
- The University of South Carolina School of Law, J.D., graduated 1996
- Presbyterian College, BS, graduated 1990
- South Carolina, South Carolina Bar
- Greenville (SC) Bar Association - Member
- National Association of Professional Background Screeners - Member
- National LGBT Bar Association - Member
- South Carolina Bar Association - Member
Greenville, South Carolina
- South Carolina, South Carolina Bar
- Greenville (SC) Bar Association - Member
- National Association of Professional Background Screeners - Member
- National LGBT Bar Association - Member
- South Carolina Bar Association - Member
- The University of South Carolina School of Law, J.D., graduated 1996
- Presbyterian College, BS, graduated 1990
Client Testimonials
Awards & Focus
Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® 2026 for work in:
- Employment Law - Management
- Litigation - Labor and Employment
Special Focus:
- Employment
- Labor
- Management
Awards:
- Bronze Compleat Lawyer Award - 1996 (highest award given to a student by the USC School of Law)
- Yellow Belt certified in Legal Lean Sigma
- AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell
News & Media
Case History
Cases
- Experience
On the litigation front, Stephen represents employers on a variety of labor & employment issues, including Title VII, ADA, FMLA, and FLSA. Recently, he successfully opposed the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's attempts to enforce in federal district court an overly broad subpoena seeking national information from a client with operations in all 50 states.Stephen is a top-rated, repeat speaker to groups and companies throughout the country on labor & employment topics. He can make even the driest legal topic (think: GINA, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, FMLA, etc.) relatable and relevant to an employer’s current workplace and employment situations.
- Stephen is a practical, plain-English counselor on a variety of subjects, including the following:
- The federal Family and Medical Leave Act;
- The federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act and state mini-WARN Acts (including, amidst recent corporate right-sizing and downsizing, assistance to hundreds of employer-clients in lawfully conducting workplace reductions in force);
- The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act and related state mini-FCRAs (including employee background check contracts, forms, processes, and issues);
- The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (including enforceable, compliant severance agreements and the creation of successful voluntary retirement programs);
- The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA); and
- Employer rights and obligations arising from H1N1 and avian flu pandemics during the last decade.
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