Julie A. Moore

Julie A. Moore serves as co-leader of the Bowles Rice Labor and Employment team. She is an experienced and highly-skilled labor and employment attorney whose practice spans the employment law spectrum and consists of advice and counseling, as well as defending litigation involving both single-plaintiff and class action employment disputes. Julie represents employers from a wide variety of industries, including health care, higher education, transportation, banking and financial services, energy, manufacturing, hospitality, information technology, government contracting and non-profits.

Julie prides herself on being a passionate advocate and delivering concierge-level client service. She strives to be an invaluable business partner to the employers she is entrusted to serve by learning about their industry, their operations, their culture, their level of risk tolerance and their most valuable asset – their people.

In her litigation practice, Julie regularly defends employers before federal and state courts against claims for discrimination, harassment, wrongful discharge and retaliation, as well as claims brought under wage and hour, family and medical leave, and disability accommodation laws.  Julie is a well-rounded litigator: she has a track record of obtaining summary judgment; she is a skillful negotiator; she has successful first and second chair jury trial experience; and she has successful appellate experience before the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.  Her unique background in economics and mathematics has equipped Julie with strong analytical skills that allow her to assist clients with carefully evaluating and managing risk.

She has litigated 100+ claims under a variety of state and federal employment statutes, including:

• The West Virginia Human Rights Act (WVHRA)
• The Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (PHRA)
• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII)
• Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 (Section 1981)
• The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
• The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
• The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
• The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
• The West Virginia Wage Payment and Collection Act (WPCA)
• The West Virginia Workers’ Compensation Act
• The West Virginia Whistle-blower Law
• The West Virginia Patient Safety Act

Julie also has experience handling matters before administrative agencies, such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the West Virginia Human Rights Commission, Workforce West Virginia and the West Virginia Public Employees Grievance Board.  Additionally, she has worked with major insurance carriers in defending policyholders pursuant to EPLI and D&O policies.

In her counseling practice, Julie regularly assists employers with navigating a wide variety of workplace issues, such as:

• Performance management
• Disciplinary actions
• Terminations
• Accommodation requests
• FMLA compliance
• Wage and hour compliance
• Implementation of policies and handbooks
• Layoffs and reductions-in-force
• Severance agreements
• Unemployment compensation

A discreet and skilled detective, Julie is regularly engaged to perform internal investigations of highly-sensitive employment matters.  Having grown up in a household of two educators, she has a particular passion for teaching employers about the best practices and pitfalls of employment law. Julie is regularly engaged by clients to provide customized, in-house training to their HR professionals, managers, and supervisors on how to maneuver the complex world of employment law to avoid costly and disruptive litigation. She is also regularly engaged to perform workforce-at-large training on topics such as workplace harassment.

Julie also serves as a certified mediator, having completed both the basic and advanced mediation training seminars offered by the West Virginia State Bar. Julie is ideally suited to serve as a mediator, especially in employment cases. She is deeply familiar with the causes of action, proof structures, liability theories, defenses, and damages that apply to employment cases. If you select Julie to mediate one of your employment cases, you will have the benefit of not needing to devote valuable time educating her on the law; rather, she will come to the mediation well equipped with a solid foundation of substantive knowledge in this practice area, which will facilitate an efficient and effective discussion. Moreover, Julie’s background makes her perfectly suited to serve as mediator. Although her practice is currently devoted primarily to defense work, her early experiences in the legal profession involved judicial and administrative work that instilled in her a balanced, impartial mindset when evaluating cases and equipped Julie with the critical skill set of being able to evaluate a case fairly, neutrally, and objectively. In addition to employment litigation, Julie has a diverse civil litigation experience that also includes personal injury, workplace accidents, trucking accidents, school liability, commercial disputes, contract disputes, real estate disputes, Title IX litigation, and professional liability litigation. Therefore, she is also suitably equipped to mediate such matters if called upon to do so.

Julie is actively involved in the HR community as an officer, board member and frequent guest lecturer for the local chapters of the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM).

Earlier in her career, Julie was an attorney-advisor with the United States Department of Labor where she assisted with the adjudication of whistleblower claims under the Federal Railroad Safety Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Surface Transportation Assistance Act, as well as claims for benefits under the Black Lung Benefits Act and the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act.  During law school, Julie served as a judicial intern to the Honorable Nora Barry Fischer of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Representative Cases

• Zerfoss v. Hinkle Trucking, Inc., No. 19-1126, 2022 WL 1223941 (W. Va. Apr. 26, 2022) (successful defense of WPCA claim at trial and on appeal)
• Judy v. Hinkle Trucking, No. 22-0101, 2023 WL 1992168 (W. Va. Feb. 14, 2023) (gender discrimination under WVHRA)
• Greaser v. Hinkle, 245 W. Va. 122, 857 S.E.2d 614 (2021) (defense of wrongful discharge/Harless claim)

• Schade v. West Virginia University, 2019 WL 2406730 (2019) (whistleblower defense)

• Chambers USA ranked attorney in Labor & Employment, 2021-2024
• Best Lawyers in America, Litigation – Labor & Employment, 2021-2024
• Super Lawyers, Rising Star in Labor & Employment, 2017-2024
• Certified Mediator (Basic Mediation Training; Advanced Mediation Training), West Virginia, 2024

• The State Journal's 2021 Generation Next: 40 Under 40

• Recognized by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Business Lawyers (Labor & Employment)

• Named to The Best Lawyers in America ® (Litigation - Labor and Employment) 
• Super Lawyers, Rising Star (2017, 2018, 2019)
• Leadership West Virginia, Class of 2018
• Leadership Monongalia, Class of 2014

• West Virginia State Council for the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), Diversity & Inclusion Director
• Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) – North Central West Virginia Chapter, Vice President (2018-present); President (2016-2018); Vice President (2014-2016); Treasurer (2012-2014); Guest Lecturer
• Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) – Tri-State Chapter, Legal Liaison and Guest Lecturer (2011-present)
• Defense Trial Counsel of West Virginia, Member
• Defense Research Institute, Member
• Monongalia County Bar Association, Member
• Garrett County, MD Human Resources Roundtable, Member and Guest Lecturer (2016-present)
• National Association of College & University Attorneys (NACUA)
• National School Boards Association Council of School Attorneys

• Scott's Run Settlement House, Board Member (2014-2018)
• Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Patron of the Arts