People: Kristin E. Michaels, Partner

Kristin E. Michaels

Partner

Chicago
Direct: (312) 460-5529
Fax: (312) 460-7529

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Biography

Ms. Michaels is a partner in the Labor and Employment Department of Seyfarth Shaw LLP. Her practice is national in scope and involves representing employers in a wide range of industries, including media, retail, hospitality, healthcare, automotive, cable, and utility.

Ms. Michaels has litigated numerous labor cases before the National Labor Relations Board, the United States District Courts, the United States Courts of Appeal, and arbitral tribunals. These cases have involved a full spectrum of labor issues such as: impasse bargaining; vesting of retiree benefits under collective bargaining agreements; unilateral implementation issues; accretion issues; successor issues; Section 10(j) relief; multiemployer bargaining; transfer of work issues; and change in the scope of the unit.
Ms. Michaels has also served as management’s chief negotiator and as lead strategic advisor in numerous collective bargaining negotiations. A recent example of Ms. Michaels’ success in this area is securing concessionary successor agreements with fifteen different bargaining units in a three-week period.

In addition to labor relations, Ms. Michaels has an extensive practice both counseling and representing employers regarding issues arising under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and related employment laws.

Ms. Michaels has been named to the Legal 500 in the area of labor-management relations.

Education

J.D., Northwestern University School of Law (1991)
B.A., Marquette University (1988)
magna cum laude
Phi Beta Kappa

Courts

Illinois Supreme Court
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Fourth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Circuits
U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Affiliations

Chicago Bar Association
Illinois State Bar Association

Representative Engagements

Newspaper Guild of St. Louis, Local 36047, TNG-CWA v. St. Louis Post Dispatch, LLC, 641 F.3d 263 (8th Cir. 2011) (Court overturned district court's decision compelling employer to arbitrate vesting of retiree benefits question)
Chicago Newspaper Guild v. Pioneer Press Newspapers, 13-UC-412 (September 2008) (NLRB denied union attempt to accrete local newspaper group to the bargaining unit)
Walgreen Co. v. National Pharmacists Association, 13-UC-377 (July 2005) (NLRB set aside arbitrator’s award finding that employees of a subsidiary were an accretion to the bargaining unit)
The Baltimore Sun Company v. National Labor Relations Board, 257 F.3d 419 (4th Cir. 2001) (Court overturned decision of the NLRB that web-site department was an accretion to the bargaining unit)
Detroit Typographical Union No. 18 v. National Labor Relations Board, 216 F.3d 109 (D.C. Cir. 2000) (Court rejected the findings of the NLRB that a strike against the Detroit News, the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit Newspaper Agency was caused by unfair labor practices)
William C. Schaub, Jr. v. Detroit Newspapers Agency, 154 F.3d 276 (6th Cir. 1998) (District Court’s denial of NLRB’s request for Section 10(j) injunction to compel employer to return former strikers to work upheld)
Beacon Journal Publishing Co. v. Akron Newspaper Guild, 114 F.3d 596 (6th Cir. 1997) (Court overturned arbitrator’s decision in favor of union regarding company scheduling practices)
NLRB v. Greensburg Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Inc., 40 F.3d 669 (3d Cir. 1994) (Court overturned decision of NLRB finding that company had unlawfully bargained to impasse and locked out its employees to pressure them to accept final offer which contained proposal to change scope of the unit)
Dispatch Printing Company and Columbus Web Pressmen’s Union, 1995 WL 831483 (1995) (award for company regarding contractual pay guarantees)
Graphic Communications Union, Local 404 and Long Beach Press-Telegram, 1993 WL 798447 (1993) (decision for the employer on union’s grievance that use of Macintosh computers by editorial employees violated work jurisdiction clause)
Baltimore Sun Company and Graphic Communications Union Local 31, 107 Lab. Arb. (BNA) 892 (1996) (discharge of employee for theft upheld)
Teal v. Chicago Sun Times, No. 00C7864 (N.D. Ill. 2001) (summary judgment for employer in retaliation case)
Galloway v. General Motors, 78 F.3d 1164 (7th Cir. 1996) (summary judgment in favor of company in sexual harassment and retaliation case upheld)
Soreo-Yasher v. First Office Management, 926 F.Supp. 646 (N.D. Ohio 1996), aff’d, 129 F.3d 1265 (6th Cir. 1997) (summary judgment for employer in pregnancy discrimination and retaliation case)
Laird v. Cragin Federal Bank, 1994 WL 13662 (N.D. Ill. 1994), aff’d, 41 F.3d 1510 (7th Cir. 1994) (summary judgment for employer in sex discrimination and retaliation case)

Presentations

“The New Obama NLRB - What Is Happening and What Is Likely To Happen?” Larger Cities Conference, St. Louis Missouri (October 2010)
“Changes Are Coming: Preparing for Labor Law Reform Under The New NLRB,” Seyfarth Shaw Nationwide Webinar (March 2010)
“The Impact of Labor Law Reform During Troubled Economic Times,” Seyfarth Shaw National Employment Conference (March 2009)
“The Employee Free Choice Act Under An Obama Administration: Key Actions Non-Union Employers Should Consider Now,” Seyfarth Shaw nationwide webinar (December 2008)
“The NLRB’s New Accretion Rule: The Bremerton Issue and Its Ramifications,” Newspaper Association of America Annual Human Resources Conference, Reston, Virginia (September 2000)
“Potential Pitfalls in Workplace Investigations,” Women in Leadership Conference, Chicago, Illinois (June 2000)
“Labor and Employment Law Update,” American Press Institute Strategic Human Resources Conference, Reston, Virginia (March 2000)
“Statutory and Contractual Issues Involved in Internal Business Restructurings,” Southern Newspaper Production and Research Institute Labor Law Conference, Dallas, Texas (March 2000)
“Balancing Privacy Rights and The Need to Monitor Use and Abuse of Electronic Communications Technology,” Litigation Management Conference, Seattle, Washington (August 1999)
“Who Wants To Be An Employment Law Millionaire?” Southern Newspaper Production and Research Institute Labor Law Conference, Birmingham, Alabama (March 2001)
“Strategies Dealing With Current Union Organizing Trends,” Southern Newspaper Production and Research Institute Labor Law Conference, Chattanooga, Tennessee (March 1999)