About Paul Ross
Paul Ross is a trial lawyer with the McAfee & Taft law firm. His primary practice involves the representation of employers in labor and employment disputes. His experience includes first-chair management of discrimination, retaliation and wrongful discharge matters in both federal and state courts, trial and appellate, as well as in arbitration and before governmental agencies. He routinely represents employers in a wide variety of matters, including claims arising under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act and other federal and state laws governing employers.
Paul also provides training and on-demand advice to employers regarding litigation avoidance and assists in day-to-day planning and decision-making, discrimination and harassment investigations, development of policies and procedures, employment contracts, non-competition and confidentiality agreements, reductions-in-force, and alternatives to reductions-in-force.
Paul is a highly regarded speaker on issues in employment law, regularly addressing various human resource groups and management-level employees. In addition to his contributions to EmployerLINC, he is a contributing author to the Oklahoma Employment Law Letter as well as other industry and professional publications. He has also provided training to other Oklahoma lawyers on employment law topics through the Oklahoma Bar Association's Law of the Workplace program in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
In 2011, Paul was appointed to serve as an administrative law judge for the Oklahoma Department of Labor.
Paul's achievements have earned him inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America and Oklahoma Super Lawyers' list of "Oklahoma Rising Stars," which recognizes the state’s top up-and-coming attorneys.
Prior to embarking on his legal career, Paul taught mathematics at Edmond Santa Fe High School in Edmond, Oklahoma. He also supervised a 100+ member customer service staff at one of the nation’s largest mortgage servicing companies.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY »
Who owns inventions by employees?
Yale Preston was an at-will employee of Marathon Oil Company in the Powder River Basin of Northeastern Wyoming. While employed by Marathon, Preston developed a process that he believed would improve methane gas extraction from wells. Marathon began using the process while he was employed and continued using it after his employment ended. When Preston objected, the dispute led to litigation over the ownership of the relevant patents.
EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATE
Oklahoma’s new drug testing law: Are you ready?
Earlier this year, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed into law a set of sweeping changes to Oklahoma’s drug and alcohol testing act which were championed by the business community and welcomed by Oklahoma employers (see May 18, 2011, EmployerLINC Employment Law Update reprinted in the section below). What employers need to do now The new act becomes effective [...]
EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATE
Sweeping changes to Oklahoma employer drug testing law
Oklahoma has long been considered an employee-friendly state on the issue of drug and alcohol testing by employers. As Oklahoma employers know all too well, the Oklahoma Standards for Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Act places significant restrictions on an employer’s ability to conduct testing and creates several hyper-technical and procedural obstacles for employers to [...]
EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATE
New I-9 ‘final rule’ effective May 16
On April 14, 2011, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) announced a new “final” rule regarding the process by which employers verify the identity and employment authorization of their newly hired employees. In the wake of that announcement and the ongoing federal I-9 audit initiatives, employers are properly questioning the status of their I-9 [...]
7.5% in Apr 2013
5.0% in Mar 2013
5.6% in Mar 2013
Historical 
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EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATE
EEOC issues new guidance memorandum on employee criminal records
On April 25, 2012, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a memorandum outlining its position on employer use of criminal records in the employment decision-making process.
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