Jennifer S. Harpole

Jennifer Harpole represents and advises employers on Colorado and federal wage and hour laws, with a particular emphasis on high-stakes class, collective, and multiplaintiff actions. She is frequently lead counsel on class and collective action claims regarding meal and rest breaks, minimum wage and overtime, regular-rate and off-the-clock claims, commission and bonus plans, joint employment, and the enforceability of arbitration agreements. 

Jennifer’s recent representative experience includes obtaining a favorable order in Colorado state court holding that employers who allow consumption of an on-duty meal comply with Colorado’s meal break law even if a 30-minute uninterrupted break is not provided, and securing dismissals and five-figure individual settlements on multiple purported Colorado class actions for meal and rest breaks and alleged independent contractor misclassification. 

She regularly handles strategic early case evaluation, removal, conditional certification challenges, complex discovery, class member and company depositions, classwide mediations, and summary judgment. Jennifer has argued wage and hour issues before the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, Colorado Supreme Court, and Colorado Court of Appeals. She is also adept at favorably resolving these matters, which often result in multimillion dollar settlements, including shepherding them through the court approval process.

Jennifer also advises clients on Colorado wage and hour compliance, including the Colorado Overtime and Minimum Pay Standards (COMPS) Order, Denver Minimum Wage Ordinance, and Equal Pay for Equal Work Act. She defends employers in federal, state, and Denver wage and hour audits and complaints, including appeals and company-wide settlements. She relishes finding practical solutions for the complex compliance challenges posed by these state and local statutes, especially for multijurisdictional employers, and has advised hundreds of employers to date on Colorado’s pay transparency requirements. 

In addition, Jennifer advises and litigates on the full spectrum of discrimination claims and defends companies in unemployment and workers’ compensation matters. 

As a liaison for Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute, she also focuses on Colorado legislative and regulatory developments affecting employers.