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ATTORNEYS

Jason E. Starling

Attorney and Principal

Practice Areas: Labor and Employment, Complex Torts

Jason E. Starling leads the labor and employment practice group at Willis Spangler Starling. He represents exclusively employees in their labor and employment disputes with their employers. He has the unique experience of being a plaintiffs’ attorney who is both (a) a trial lawyer able to try cases to a judge or jury in the courtroom and (b) a litigator with excellent legal research and writing abilities who can consistently defeat defendants’ motions for summary judgment.

Jason represents employees making minimum wage all the way to executives with seven-figure compensation packages. He assists them in cases alleging wrongful termination, workplace discrimination, workplace retaliation, workplace harassment, failure to pay minimum wage, failure to pay overtime, failure to reasonably accommodate disabilities, and Family and Medical Leave Act noncompliance. Jason also provides advice on, and litigates disputes over, severance agreements, employment contracts, and non-competition agreements. Finally, Jason litigates both class and collective actions alleging employment claims.

In addition to his labor and employment law practice, Jason has developed an expertise in discovery of electronically stored information, also called “e-discovery.” This expertise is often crucial to effectively litigating a client’s case.

Jason is married and has three wonderful children. In his spare time, Jason enjoys crossfit.

Education

Indiana University School of Law—Bloomington
J.D., Cum Laude, 2007
Managing Editor, Indiana Law Journal

Purdue University
B.A., Magna Cum Laude, 2004, Political Science & Philosophy
Bar Admissions
- Ohio
- United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio
- United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
- United States District Court for the District of Arizona, pro hac vice
- United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation
Professional Associations
- Ohio State Bar Association
- Ohio Employment Lawyers Association
- Ohio Association for Justice
Selected Verdicts
- A unanimous verdict of $2,617,851 for the plaintiff in a sex discrimination, sexual orientation discrimination, and retaliation case. The award was $1,308,927 for compensatory damages, $624,109 for back pay, and $684,815 for front pay until retirement. See Verdict & Damages, Arnold Yerkes v. Ohio State Highway Patrol, No. 2:19-cv-02047, ECF No. 175 (S.D. Ohio Aug. 8, 2023).
Selected Settlements
- $5,000,000 settlement for a catastrophic motor vehicle collision case alleging negligence against a motor vehicle carrier and broker.
- $2,250,000 settlement for an employment discrimination and retaliation case.
- $1,500,000 settlement for a catastrophic motor vehicle collision case alleging negligence against a motor vehicle carrier and broker.
- $1,000,000 settlement for an employment discrimination and retaliation case.
- $850,000 settlement for an employment discrimination and retaliation case.
- Multiple $250,000 settlements for employment discrimination and retaliation cases.
- $160,000 settlement for an employment discrimination and retaliation case.
- $145,000 settlement for an employment discrimination and retaliation case.
- Multiple $120,000 settlements for an employment discrimination and retaliation case.
- Various settlements between $100,000 and $15,000 for employment discrimination and retaliation cases.
Selected Decisions (Federal Court)
- Khalifa v. PNC Bank, No. 2:22-cv-3308, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 67324 (S.D. Ohio Apr. 17, 2023) (granting the plaintiff’s motion to remand to state court and assessing the plaintiff’s attorneys’ fees against the defendants for an improper removal alleging diversity jurisdiction).
- Arnold Yerkes v. Ohio State Highway Patrol, No. 2:19-cv-2047, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 247838 (S.D. Ohio Dec. 30, 2021) (denying the employer summary judgment on sex discrimination, sexual orientation discrimination, and retaliation claims), reversed in part only as to qualified immunity by 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 35260 (6th Cir. Dec. 19, 2022).
- Easter v. Beacon Tri-State Staffing, Inc., No. 2:17-cv-00197, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 166348 (S.D. Ohio Sep. 27, 2019) (denying the employer’s motion for summary judgment on Family and Medical Leave Act inference and retaliation claims and granting the plaintiff’s motion for partial summary judgment on the affirmative defense of failure to mitigate damages).
- Starling v. Banner Health, No. CV-16-00708-PHX-NVW, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5722 (D. Ariz. Jan. 12, 2018) (denying the employer summary judgment on claims of age discrimination and retaliation despite previously prohibiting the plaintiff’s counsel from deposing any of the decision-makers and from obtaining any comparator discovery).
Selected Decisions (State Court)
- Burch v. Ohio Farmers Ins. Co., 5th Dist. Delaware No. 22 CAE 04 0029, 2023-Ohio-912 (reversing, on an issue of first impression, the trial court for retroactively applying Ohio’s Employment Law Uniformity Act to dismiss the plaintiff’s complaint).
- Anderson v. Bright Horizons Children’s Ctrs., 10th Dist. Franklin No. 20AP-291, 2022-Ohio-1031 (reversing the trial court for granting summary judgment on a regarded-as disability discrimination claim).
- Decision & Entry, Hrabcak v. The Kroger Co., Franklin C.P. No. 20 CV 002384 Sep. 22, 2022) (denying the employer summary judgment on a disability discrimination and age discrimination case).