Curtis Cornett

Background

Curtis has been voted by attorneys throughout Ohio as an Ohio Super Lawyer every year from 2012 through the present in the labor and employment area. He has also received an AV rating from his peers – the highest rating an attorney can receive.

Curtis has successfully represented management clients in labor arbitrations, in unfair labor practice proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board, and he regularly practices before a host of other governmental agencies, including the EEOC and the Department of Labor.

He has also successfully tried a number of employment-related cases in federal and state courts in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and California.

Curtis represents one of the largest automobile dealers in the Greater Cincinnati area (The Kenwood Dealer Group) and has developed an expertise in the automotive industry. In 2012, he testified as an expert witness in front of an Ohio Senate Subcommittee regarding an amendment to Ohio’s Consumer Sales Practices Act and also assisted in drafting the language of that amendment. Curtis has tried cases in the commercial litigation arena throughout the United States and has achieved results in three separate proceedings which resulted in multi-million dollar recoveries for his clients.

He also represents interstate carriers and brokers in a variety of transportation related matters, including cargo claims, and is the chairman of the Commercial and Business Litigation Committee of the Transportation Lawyers Association.

Curtis is an avid runner, having completed 40 marathons, including the Boston Marathon 5 times. Curtis also enjoys listening to classical music, as he is a former classical trumpet player, having earned a Master’s of Music degree in trumpet performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Representative Matters

Curtis’ practice is focused primarily in the areas of labor and employment, commercial litigation, and transportation issues, such as:

Labor & Employment

• He represents employers in all aspects of employment/labor law including: Title VII compliance, FMLA and other leave issues, discharge and discipline matters, trade secret and non-competition matters, overtime and other wage issues, and union/collective bargaining issues.
• He further represents employers in litigation regarding all of the above employment/labor issues in federal and state court, private arbitrations, before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, Occupational Health and Safety Administration, and before the Department of Labor.

Automobile Dealerships

• He assists automobile dealers with a wide range of legal matters including; disputes with consumers; compliance with federal and state laws and regulations; and disputes with manufacturers.

Commercial Litigation

• He represents clients in a wide range of business disputes including contractual disputes, shareholder disputes, construction and real estate disputes, and transportation-related matters.

Transportation

• He represents carriers and brokers in cargo disputes and with labor and employment issues.

Case Studies
Decisions of note in which he has served as lead counsel:

• Whitten v. Kenwood Dealer Group, Inc., Case No. A9806163 (Hamilton Cty. C.P. 2000) (Jury verdict in favor of defendants/clients after three-day jury trial regarding shareholder dispute);
• Saturn of Kings Automall, Inc. v. Mike Albert Leasing, Inc., 92 Ohio St. 3d 513 (2001) (Successfully represented client in the seminal case in Ohio on Ohio’s Certificate of Title Act, deciding that the Certificate of Title Act trumps the Uniform Commercial Code in disputes over ownership of a motor vehicle);
• France v. General Motors Corp., et al., Case No. A0007362 (Hamilton Cty. C.P. 2005) (Jury awarded $0 to plaintiff in consumer action against dealership/client after three-day jury trial);
• Booker v. Dee Sign Company, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24035 (S.D. Ohio 2006), (Summary judgment entered in favor of employer/client in race discrimination case);
• Kings Jeep, Inc. v. Daimler Chrysler Motor Co., LLC, Case No. A0609274 (Hamilton Cty. C.P. 2008) (Summary judgment entered in favor of dealership/client against manufacturer relating to sales incentive plans);
• Hansen v. Zwanenberg Food Group (USA), Inc., 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 72192 (S.D. Ohio 2010) (Summary judgment entered in favor of employer/client in case brought for overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act);
• Hereford v. The Greens of Madison Apartments, LLC, Case No. 39C011206 MF 524 (Jefferson Cty. Cir. Ct. 2014) (Obtained set-off award of over $600,000 for client/purchaser of real property due to seller’s fraudulent conduct following two-day bench trial);
• Northgate Chrysler Dodge Jeep, Inc. v. FCA US, LLC, Case No. 15-01-MVDB-385-KR (Ohio Motor Dealer Board 2017) (Dealers/clients prevailed against manufacturer in protest over proposed new dealership);
• Holloway v. Kings Dodge, Inc., Case No. 1:16-cv-1075 (S.D. Ohio 2021) (Jury verdict in favor of defendants/clients in age discrimination case after three-day jury trial).
• Mellinger v. Quality Casing Co., Inc., 2003-Ohio-2433 (Hamilton Cty. Ct. App. 2023) (Court of Appeals upheld granting of summary judgment to defendant in disability discrimination case).

Publications

He has spoken on many occasions to business groups and lawyers concerning a variety of issues relating to labor and employment law.