Larry A. Sykes - Stoll Keenon Ogden PLLC

Larry is Counsel to the Firm in Stoll Keenon Ogden's Lexington office and has been with the firm since 1983. He is a member of the Labor, Employment & Employee Benefits practice. He has extensive experience with claims of race, age and sex discrimination, sexual harassment, disability discrimination, breach of covenants not-to-compete and whistleblower claims under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. He also practices in areas of traditional labor law and is an Adjunct Professor of Labor Law at the University of Kentucky College of Law.

Larry is BV® Distinguished™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell® and is listed in The Best Lawyers in America® for his many legal accomplishments. Recently, he represented a Fortune 500 company, Lexmark International, in an action to enforce a non-compete agreement against a company executive who breached his agreement by taking a position with a competing company, Hewlett Packard in California. He obtained a preliminary injunction against the former executive, and ultimately achieved a settlement that required the executive and Hewlett Packard to comply with the original agreement and pay $525,000 in compensation to Lexmark.

Larry is a member of the Fayette County, Kentucky and American Bar Associations. Active within the community, he has been a LYSA Coach, as well as a Poney Baseball Coach. In addition, he also served on the Lafayette High School Site Based Decision-Making Council for five years. Larry is married with three children and enjoys basketball during his free time.

Work Highlights

Lexmark International, Inc. v. Bruce W. Dahlgren and Hewlett-Packard Co., Fayette Circuit Court, No. 06-CI-00261
Mr. Sykes successfully represented Lexmark International, Inc. in an action to enforce a non-compete agreement against a Lexmark executive who breached his agreement by taking a position with Hewlett-Packard headquarters in California. Mr. Sykes successfully argued that the Fayette Circuit Court should take jurisdiction over the case rather than deferring to the California courts, and obtained a preliminary injunction against the former executive from the Fayette Circuit Court. Following extensive litigation, Hewlett-Packard and the former executive agreed to comply with the terms of the non-compete agreement and pay $525,000 in compensation to Lexmark.

L. Thomas Richards v. Lexmark International, Inc., U.S. Dept. of Labor, Office of ALJ, Case No. 2004-SOX-00049
Mr. Sykes also successfully represented Lexmark in one of the earliest whistleblower claims filed under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to proceed to a trial before a U.S. Dept. of Labor Administrative Law Judge. Following a 7-day trial, the ALJ denied all of the plaintiff's claims and absolved Lexmark of any wrongdoing. Mr. Sykes subsequently obtained summary judgment on related common law claims in state court.

Donaldson, et al. v. Bundy Corporation, U.S.D.C., E.D. of Ky., No. 89-155
Mr. Sykes won a jury verdict in an age discrimination lawsuit arising out of a plant closing.