Pay Equity and Transparency in Independent Schools: A Deeper Dive

Susan Guerette | Partner, Fisher Phillips
Susan Guerette is a partner in the firm’s Philadelphia office. She has a national practice representing management on a wide range of labor and employment matters including defending claims of discrimination based on race, gender, age, disability, and national origin. Susan focuses on litigating cases involving covenants not to compete, non-solicitation, non-use, and non-disclosure agreements, trade secrets, fiduciary duty, duty of loyalty, and similar claims arising from the movement of employees between competitor firms. Susan has litigated more than 400 employee defection and recruitment matters in over 30 different states, as well as numerous arbitration actions before arbitration panels (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)). She has represented clients in a variety of industries, including regional, national, and international securities brokerage, discount stock brokerage, banking, online retailing, food manufacturing and distribution, industrial gas distribution, healthcare staffing and placement, computer hardware/software sales and distribution, computer consulting and services, medical and dental practice, life insurance companies, professional employee search and placement, temporary professional staffing and medical device companies. Susan is also a member of the firm’s Education Practice Group, which represents private educational institutions in employee, student, and board issues. Susan counsels employers on employment policies, immigration issues, and compliance with local, state, and federal statutes. She drafts and reviews employer policies and severance agreements and negotiates employee compensation and employment agreements. In addition to her litigation practice, Susan helps clients develop and implement coordinated programs to protect against employee defection, and to minimize the risks that arise when hiring employees from competitors. Susan is “AV” Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell and has been included in Pennsylvania Super Lawyers since 2011. She was also named to International Employment Lawyers’ inaugural “Women Leaders” list in 2022.

Cheryl Pinarchick | Managing Regional Partner, Fisher Phillips
Cheryl Pinarchick is the managing partner of Fisher Phillips’ Boston office and co-chair of the Pay Equity Practice Group. Cheryl has extensive experience handling all aspects of employment litigation, including trials in state and federal courts throughout the United States and in arbitrations. She has successfully defended employment actions alleging wrongful termination, employment discrimination and harassment, wage and hour violations, retaliation, and other related claims. She has also successfully prosecuted and defended trade secrets and non-competition agreements in numerous jurisdictions. With the patchwork of state and local pay equity and pay transparency laws, Cheryl dedicates significant time to the legal issues surrounding pay equality and pay transparency, including counseling employers on best practices and legal compliance, conducting pay equity evaluations, and representing employers in litigation involving pay equity issues.   She is a frequent presenter on pay equity and pay transparency both locally and nationally and has been quoted in several high-profile publications, including Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, Bloomberg Law, Boston Business Journal, and ACC Docket. Cheryl has also appeared on CNN and Boston’s NBC News Station.