Melanie A Renken is a seasoned employment litigator and business-minded counsel whose career spans the courtroom, the C‑suite, and high‑stakes crisis management. She has represented employers across the country in state and federal courts, defending claims under Title VII, the ADEA, ADA, FMLA, FLSA, OSHA retaliation, AIR21, workers' compensation retaliation, and a range of contract and tort disputes. Ms. Renken is a member of the firm's Aerospace, Drug Testing, and Whistleblower and Retaliation practice groups. She is one of the go-to attorneys at Ogletree for AIR21 retaliation complaints, and a significant portion of her practice is dedicated to defending a global aerospace company in their employment-related lawsuits. Ms. Renken's written and oral advocacy skills have resulted in numerous dispositive wins in California, Illinois, and Missouri state courts, as well as in several federal district courts. She recently led a team of lawyers from various firms across Illinois to defend a lawsuit alleging that 145 school districts had violated students' constitutional rights related to COVID-19 protocols and secured a dismissal with prejudice. Ms. Renken earned her M.A. degree from University of North Carolina and her J.D. degree from Saint Louis University.
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