Workplace disputes in Middle Tennessee move on tight federal and state procedural tracks. A worker who believes a termination was discriminatory must file a Charge of Discrimination with the EEOC within 300 days under the work-sharing arrangement with the Tennessee Human Rights Commission, preserving rights under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act at 42 USC 2000e, the Americans with Disabilities Act at 42 USC 12101, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act at 29 USC 621. Unpaid overtime claims fall under the Fair Labor Standards Act at 29 USC 201, leave interference disputes under the Family and Medical Leave Act at 29 USC 2601, and Tennessee whistleblower retaliation under the Tennessee Public Protection Act at TCA 50-1-304. The three firms below were selected on the basis of verified plaintiff-side employee representation, documented Nashville-area practice, and published practice scopes covering the statutory range of federal and Tennessee employment law.
Quick Comparison #
| Firm | Credentials | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| HMC Civil Rights Law, PLLC | Tennessee and Florida bar admission, Middle, Eastern, and Western District of Tennessee admission, Sixth Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court admission, NELA Board of Directors service since 2020, prior TENNELA leadership roles. | Federal and state discrimination claims on age, race, sex, national origin, citizenship, pregnancy, disability under the ADA, religion, FMLA interference, retaliation, whistleblower claims, wage and overtime claims under federal and state law. |
| Stranch, Jennings & Garvey, PLLC | Nashville roots traced to 1952, multi-office reach across Oakland, St. Louis, and Las Vegas, ERISA trust fund practice, labor-side and individual-worker representation. | Employment and discrimination law, ERISA trust fund litigation, labor law, labor union representation, FLSA wage and hour disputes, WARN Act compliance, collective actions on unpaid overtime, misclassification, off-the-clock work, prevailing wage claims under Davis-Bacon contracts. |
| Yezbak Law Offices | Tennessee plaintiff-side practice operating since 1998, three-attorney roster with civil rights experience, documented FLSA collective-action recoveries. | FLSA tip-credit, misclassification, off-the-clock disputes, Title VII discrimination, FMLA cases, retaliation, Tennessee whistleblower disputes under TCA 50-1-304, sexual harassment, civil sexual-assault claims, wrongful termination, employment contract review, class and collective actions. |
1. HMC Civil Rights Law, PLLC #
Heather Moore Collins founded HMC Civil Rights Law in 2009, building a Nashville plaintiff-side practice that now operates from 302 Peachtree Street, Nashville, TN 37210. The firm phone is (615) 724-1996. Ms. Collins has served as lead trial counsel in civil rights and employment cases in federal and state courts for more than twenty years and is admitted to the Tennessee and Florida state bars, the Middle, Eastern, and Western District Courts of Tennessee, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court.
NELA board service and TENNELA leadership #
Ms. Collins has served on the National Employment Lawyers Association Board of Directors since 2020 and previously held Board Member, Vice-President, and President roles within the Tennessee Employment Lawyers Association. She sits on the Tennessee Bar Association Labor and Employment Section Executive Committee. The office handles federal and state discrimination claims on the basis of age, race, sex, national origin, citizenship, pregnancy, disability under the ADA, religion, FMLA interference, retaliation, workplace whistleblower claims, and wage and overtime claims under federal and state law.
Trial preparation and trauma-informed intake #
The practice describes its case workup as built for trial, with each matter prepared as if a jury will decide it. Ms. Collins was recognized as the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association Outstanding Trial Lawyer for 2025 and has been selected for the Mid-South Super Lawyers list and the Best Lawyers list for Employment Law on behalf of Individuals. The office takes referrals across Nashville, Columbia, Franklin, and Murfreesboro.
2. Stranch, Jennings & Garvey, PLLC #
Stranch, Jennings & Garvey traces its Nashville roots to 1952, when Cecil Branstetter opened the predecessor practice after earning his JD from Vanderbilt Law School in 1949. The current office sits in The Freedom Center at 223 Rosa L. Parks Avenue, Suite 200, Nashville, TN 37203, reachable at (615) 254-8801. James G. Stranch III concentrates on labor and employment matters and has represented labor organizations and individual workers across Tennessee and the South for more than four decades.
Wage and hour and labor practice #
Published practice areas include employment and discrimination law, ERISA trust fund litigation, labor law, labor union representation, wage and hour disputes under the FLSA, and Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act compliance. The group handles collective actions on unpaid overtime, misclassification matters, off-the-clock work disputes, and prevailing wage claims under Davis-Bacon contracts.
Multi-office reach and recoveries #
The practice operates from Nashville with additional offices in Oakland, St. Louis, and Las Vegas, allowing coordinated work on multi-jurisdiction wage and hour collective actions and class litigation. Firm-published figures cite more than $50 billion recovered for clients across the practice’s lifetime, drawn from securities, antitrust, consumer, ERISA, and employment matters. Founding members include J. Gerard Stranch IV, James G. Stranch III, R. Jan Jennings, Hon. John Garvey, and Michael G. Stewart.
3. Yezbak Law Offices #
Chuck Yezbak established Yezbak Law Offices in 1998, anchoring a Nashville plaintiff-side practice at 2901 Dobbs Avenue, Nashville, TN 37211, by appointment. The office line is (615) 250-2000. The group has handled FLSA collective actions, Title VII discrimination matters, FMLA cases, retaliation claims, and Tennessee whistleblower disputes from a single Nashville base for more than two decades.
Collective and class wage recoveries #
Published case results include a $14.8 million resolution for more than 900 disability claims processors and a $2 million recovery for approximately 500 tipped employees, reflecting concentrated work on FLSA tip-credit, misclassification, and off-the-clock disputes. Practice areas extend to discrimination on the basis of disability and pregnancy, sexual harassment, sexual assault civil claims, wrongful termination, retaliation, whistleblower claims, employment contract review, and class and collective actions.
Attorney roster and civil rights overlap #
Mel Fowler-Green practices alongside Mr. Yezbak with more than twenty years of employment and civil rights experience, and Chase Teeples rounds out the attorney roster. The office also takes selected non-employment civil rights matters where the underlying facts overlap with workplace claims, such as public-sector retaliation or constitutional claims tied to a government employer.
Selection Methodology #
Employment law in Tennessee runs through federal statute (Title VII, ADA, ADEA, FMLA, FLSA) administered through the EEOC and the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, alongside Tennessee statutes including the Tennessee Human Rights Act and the Tennessee Public Protection Act for retaliation claims. The filter for the three firms above started with Tennessee Supreme Court bar admission, then worked through Middle District of Tennessee federal court admission, NELA National Employment Lawyers Association membership for plaintiff-side practice or SHRM partnership for management-side counsel, scope detail by claim category (discrimination, wage and hour, retaliation, FMLA interference, non-compete enforcement under TCA 47-25), and Davidson or Williamson County office tenure. Document-prep services without admitted counsel were excluded.
How to Choose Among These Three Nashville Employment Firms #
Claim type and procedural posture should drive selection. A discrimination, ADA, FMLA interference, or workplace retaliation matter prepared for jury trial fits HMC Civil Rights Law, whose founder serves on the NELA Board of Directors, has held TENNELA leadership roles, and was named the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association Outstanding Trial Lawyer for 2025. A union representation file, ERISA trust fund litigation, a multi-state FLSA collective action, or a WARN Act notice dispute fits Stranch, Jennings & Garvey, where the practice traces a labor-law lineage to 1952 and operates additional offices in Oakland, St. Louis, and Las Vegas for coordinated multi-jurisdiction work. An FLSA tip-credit, misclassification, off-the-clock, or Tennessee whistleblower dispute with documented collective-action recovery experience fits Yezbak Law Offices, whose published case results include a $14.8 million resolution for more than 900 disability claims processors and a $2 million recovery for approximately 500 tipped employees. EEOC charge filing deadlines run on a 300-day clock in Tennessee under the THRC work-sharing arrangement, so the initial consultation should occur well inside that window.
Reference Notes #
Nashville-area employment matters cross multiple federal and Tennessee statutory frameworks. Discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin falls under Title VII at 42 USC 2000e, with state-law parallels under the Tennessee Human Rights Act at TCA 4-21. Disability discrimination is governed by the ADA at 42 USC 12101, age discrimination by the ADEA at 29 USC 621, leave matters by the FMLA at 29 USC 2601, and wage and hour disputes by the FLSA at 29 USC 201. Retaliation for reporting illegal activity to a supervisor or government agency is actionable under the Tennessee Public Protection Act at TCA 50-1-304. EEOC charges in Tennessee must be filed within 300 days of the alleged adverse action under the work-sharing arrangement with the THRC. The Federal Trade Commission non-compete rule issued in 2024 was enjoined nationally before its effective date and was vacated by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas; in September 2025 the FTC voted 3-1 to dismiss its appeals and accede to the vacatur, leaving the rule dead and Tennessee non-compete enforcement governed by state common law reasonableness analysis. NELA membership is conditioned on adherence to the NELA Code of Ethics, which addresses client communication, conflicts of interest, and competence standards for member attorneys.
Frequently Asked Questions #
Q: How does the firm communicate case status between major events?
A: Ask for the firm’s communication standard: how often the client receives a status update absent major activity, whether updates come by email or phone, and how documents flow to the client (portal, mail, encrypted email). A documented communication standard prevents client confusion during long quiet periods in litigation.
Q: What happens if the matter requires an attorney outside the firm’s practice area?
A: Ask the firm’s policy on referral to outside counsel for specialized issues that arise (tax, immigration, bankruptcy, appellate). Confirm whether referral fees are disclosed and whether the original firm continues as lead counsel or steps aside, so the client understands the structure and cost.
Q: Are any of the three firms paid placements?
A: No. The three profiles above are editorial selections drawn from publicly verifiable sources. No firm sponsored placement.
Q: How are settlement decisions and litigation strategy decisions made?
A: Under the Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct, the client makes the decision on settlement and on certain major case-strategy questions, while the lawyer guides tactics within the engagement. Confirm in writing that the firm will present every settlement offer, document client decisions, and seek written authorization for major strategic moves.
Editorial Note #
This guide was published on 2026-05-11 and reflects research current as of that date. Verify licenses, phone numbers, and current business status before engaging any firm.