Jason Tremblay is the Chicago office managing partner for Saul Ewing and vice chair of the firm's Labor & Employment Practice. As a business counselor and litigator, Jason advises companies in a wide range of industries on employment law and commercial matters. His experience in employment matters includes counseling, negotiation and litigation on issues critical to the evolving workplace including wage and hour disputes, restrictive covenant matters, and federal, state and local statutory issues. Jason also provides his clients with an array of services including drafting and negotiating employment and independent contractor agreements and responding to governmental audits and investigations. In the commercial area, Jason handles a broad range of complex business and tort matters, including matters involving breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, interference with contract and shareholder disputes.
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His clients operate in industries ranging from education, information technology, staffing, manufacturing, construction, property management, food and beverage, consulting, service and retail.
Jason also frequently writes, lectures and presents webinars and seminars on a wide variety of employment, asset protection and liability avoidance topics to industry groups, trade associations and chambers of commerce.
As an outgrowth of his business-oriented employment practice, Jason serves in a capacity similar to an outside general counsel for clients on a variety of other legal matters including general business, corporate, real estate and litigation issues. In providing this service, he helps businesses triage the issues they face and collaborates with lawyers from different practice groups in the firm who bring their unique knowledge, and skill sets to the client relationship.
Jason has been named a "Future Star" in Illinois by Benchmark Litigation since 2025.
Wage and Hour Disputes
Wage and hour issues are some of the most complex and potentially costly risks for employers. Jason counsels employers in developing wage and hour compensation policies and regularly defends employers in wage and hour and employee misclassification litigation. He also frequently assists his clients through wage and hour audits and investigations by federal and state agencies.
- Successfully defended a manufacturing company in a state and federal minimum wage and overtime lawsuit.
- Defeated effort by employees of a restaurant group to certify overtime class action.
- Represented a local package delivery company in favorably resolving a collective worker classification lawsuit.
- Defended an educational institution in a wage and hour overtime lawsuit.
- Resolved a U.S. Department of Labor wage and hour audit on behalf of a group of restaurant delivery drivers.
- Defended and favorably resolved a medical technology company in a collective and class action lawsuit alleging minimum wage, overtime, rest period, meal break and record keeping violations.
Restrictive Covenant Matters
A significant portion of Jason's practice involves actions related to prosecuting and defending restrictive covenants, trade secrets and unfair competition claims, including claims involving covenants not to compete, non-solicitation agreements, tortious interference, conspiracy and breaches of the duty of loyalty. He also frequently drafts restrictive covenant agreements and proactively works with his clients' senior management teams to protect their corporate assets and trade secrets.
- Obtained a temporary restraining order on behalf of an education client against a former employee who took confidential information and attempted to solicit former school staff members.
- Obtained summary judgment on behalf of a client who was alleged to have violated his restrictive covenant obligations and misappropriated trade secrets of his former employer.
- Defeated an effort by a client's competitor to obtain a temporary restraining order against a newly-hired executive employee.
- Obtained a temporary restraining order against a physician who opened a competing medical practice a few miles from a client physician group.
- Regularly drafts, revises and negotiates restrictive covenant and business protection agreements.
Employment Discrimination
While continually looking for ways to proactively avoid litigation, Jason's experience as a counselor and advocate for his clients assists him in litigating employment discrimination, workplace harassment, retaliation, leave of absence, whistleblowing, and wrongful discharge claims, whether in state or federal court, or before administrative tribunals.
- Obtained a jury verdict in federal court on behalf of a manufacturing client in an ADA failure to accommodate and retaliatory discharge lawsuit.
- Obtained summary judgment in federal court on behalf of a vehicle service contract provider in an FMLA interference and retaliation claim.
- Obtained summary judgment in state court on behalf of a large railway leasing company in retaliatory discharge and intentional infliction of emotional distress claim.
- Obtained summary judgment in federal court on behalf of a large packaging company in a sexual harassment and gender discrimination lawsuit.
- Obtained summary judgment in an age discrimination lawsuit filed against a travel technology company.
- Obtained a favorable result for a software development company in an age and race discrimination lawsuit filed in federal court.
General Human Resource Counseling
Jason regularly advises clients on a broad range of personnel and human resource matters, such as lawful hiring, employee discipline and discharge and mass layoffs. He frequently conducts workplace investigations and audits and reviews and drafts employment and independent contractor agreements, severance agreements, employment policies and employee handbooks.
- Conducted an extensive investigation for a client regarding allegations of a workplace hostile to religious practices.
- Counseled a large multi-state educational institution on a company-wide reduction in force.
- Represented a construction company in a U.S. Department of Labor wage and hour audit.
- Regularly advises a large educational institution on a variety of employee leave issues under the ADA, the FMLA and related state law.
- Conducted an extensive employment audit of a medical provider, including analysis of wage and hour, equal pay and background check practices.
- Conducted anti-harassment training on behalf of a large professional sports organization.
- Drafted an employee handbook containing over 40 separate state supplements for a large retailer.
- Illinois
Firm Involvement
- Chicago Office Managing Partner
- Vice Chair, Labor & Employment Practice
- Former Co-Chair, Saul Ewing Summer Associate Program
Degrees
- J.D., with High Honors, Chicago-Kent College of Law, 2000
- B.A., Franklin and Marshall College, 1996
- University of Aberdeen, Scotland, 1995
Honors & Awards
- Named a "Future Star" in Illinois by Benchmark Litigation, 2025 to present
- Named to the Illinois Super Lawyers list for Employment & Labor, 2024 to present
Professional Involvement
- Of Counsel, GOA Regional Business Association
- Illinois State Bar Association
- Former Labor and Employment Section Council member
- American Bar Association, Labor and Employment Section
- Small Business Advocacy Council
- Board Member
- Of Counsel
- Member, Society for Human Resource Management
- Member of several regional Chambers of Commerce