Harlee P. Havens
Harlee Havens is an associate in the firm’s Lexington, Kentucky office where she focuses her practice in litigation, with a strong focus on both employment law and public utility law.
In the realm of employment law, Harlee represents employers in a wide range of matters in federal and state courts and administrative agencies, including discrimination claims and wage-and-hour disputes. She also assists employers in drafting employee-related agreements and workplace policies. Additionally, Harlee represents electric utilities before the Kentucky Public Service Commission in matters involving regulatory compliance, rate-making, and appeals.
Harlee also represents clients in complex business disputes across a range of industries, leveraging the legal research and writing skills she developed as a former law clerk to Hon. Chief Judge Gregory N. Stivers of the Western District of Kentucky.
Western Kentucky University Young Alumni Council, Member (2024-present)
summa cum laude
University of Kentucky College of Law
Order of the Coif
Kentucky Law Journal, Managing Editor, Vol. 110; Staff Editor, Vol. 109; Best Second Year Staff Member, Vol. 109; Best Source & Cite, Fain Note, Book Two; Best Source & Cite, VanMeter Article, Book Three
CALI Award in Secured Transactions, and Law & Religion
Election Law Society, Class Representative (2019-22)
Publication: Note, A Reprieve From the Crushing Cost of an Education: Why the Sixth Circuit Should Interpret the Bankruptcy Code to Allow Discharge of Private Student Loans, 110 KY. L.J. 203 (2021)
summa cum laude
Western Kentucky University
Honors College Graduate
Thesis/Capstone: The Effect of Knowledge on Attitudes Towards the U.S. Supreme Court
President's Scholar (2015-19)
Regents Scholarship; Faculty-Undergraduate Student Engagement Research Grant; Carl P. Chelf Political Science Scholarship Fund
Southern Political Science Association, Annual Meeting Panelist: Courts & Their Publics
Greek Hall of Fame
Greek Academic Hall of Fame
Panhellenic Council, 1st Vice President
Omega Phi Alpha Sorority, Secretary
Mahurin Honors College, HonorsTopper Student Ambassador
Greek Jeopardy, Co-Chair
Harlee comes to the firm after serving as a Judicial Law Clerk to the Honorable Chief Judge Gregory N. Stivers, United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky (2022-23). During law school, she was a summer associate in the Lexington office (2020 and 2021).
Outside of the firm, Harlee enjoys antiquing, cooking, and long walks with her dog, Vinny.
EEOC Issues Final Rule Implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) was enacted last year with the purpose of protecting pregnant workers from discrimination and providing them with a right to reasonable accommodations in the workplace. On April 15, 2024, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) published its Final Rule setting forth expansive regulations implementing the law. The Final Rule becomes effective June 18, 2024. Robin McGuffin and Harlee Havens take a look at what this means in this Stites & Harbison Client Alert.
Sixth Circuit Identifies “Dilemma,” but Not Solution for Calculating Workers’ Vehicle Expenses Under the Fair Labor Standards Act
In an opinion that raises as many questions as it answers, the Sixth Circuit foreclosed two methods of calculating how delivery drivers paid the minimum wage should be reimbursed for the costs associated with using their vehicles for work under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). Rejecting both the drivers’ assertion that they should be reimbursed using the mileage rate published by the IRS, and the employers’ argument that drivers should receive a “reasonable approximation” of their costs, the Sixth Circuit held in two consolidated appeals in Parker v. Battle Creek Pizza, Inc., Nos. 22-2119, 22-3561, 2024 WL 1068871 (6th Cir. Mar. 12, 2024), that drivers’ actual costs must be reimbursed to avoid a minimum wage violation and remanded both cases to their respective district courts with little guidance as to how to calculate those costs. Robin McGuffin and Harlee Havens take a close look at the ruling in this Stites & Harbison Client Alert.
Stites & Harbison Welcomes Seven Attorneys to Multiple Offices
LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Stites & Harbison, PLLC announces the addition of seven attorneys to the firm. Four attorneys join the Lexington, Ky., office: Harlee Havens, Brandon Lira, John Paul Stilz and Conner Wehrle. Alexandra Dunn, Lucy McIntire and Haley Duncan join the firm in Jeffersonville, Ind., Louisville, Ky. and Nashville, Tenn., respectively.