Resolving complex labor and employment disputes is the foundation of Derek’s practice.
Derek counsels clients on federal and state labor and employment laws, and frequently defends claims in state and federal trial and appellate courts, as well as before arbitrators and administrative agencies such as the NLRB, EEOC, and U.S. Department of Labor.
With deep experience in traditional labor matters, Derek advises clients on collective bargaining relationships, including developing and implementing bargaining strategies, labor dispute contingency planning, maintenance of operations during labor disputes, responding to corporate campaigns, audits of union-sponsored health and welfare plans, unfair labor practice litigation, labor contract administration, and labor issues associated with the acquisition or divesture of corporate assets.
Clients with and without unionized workforces turn to Derek for help on employee engagement initiatives, organizing risk assessments, and implementing successful campaigns related to union certification and decertification elections. He represents clients across a broad range of industries, including health care, manufacturing, law enforcement, logistics and distribution, business consulting, retail, publishing, and financial services.
Beyond traditional labor matters, Derek's litigation experience includes defending claims involving civil rights and equal employment opportunity, wrongful discharge, wage payment and collection, and ERISA benefits, including class action claims for alleged vested retiree benefits. Derek also has considerable experience prosecuting and defending actions involving the enforcement of contractual restrictive covenants, as well as claims for unfair competition, employee raiding, and the protection of trade secrets.
More Legal and Business Bylines From Derek Barella
- How Low Can You Go? Labor Board’s Final Joint Employer Rule Sets Exceedingly Low Bar for Assessing Joint Employer Liability - (Posted On Monday, November 06, 2023)
- One Strike, You’re Out: NLRB Overturns Decades of Precedent, Institutes Mandatory Bargaining for Employers That Commit Unfair Labor Practices in Union Election Process - (Posted On Thursday, August 31, 2023)
- Double Secret Probation! NLRB Propounds Expansive List of Potential Remedies It May Impose on Employers for Interfering with Employee Rights - (Posted On Friday, April 28, 2023)
- NLRB Continues Labor-Friendly Push by Reinstating Obama-Era Standard to Facilitate Union Organizing of “Micro-Units” - (Posted On Wednesday, December 28, 2022)
- Employers, Perform Your Dues Diligence: NLRB Reinstitutes Post-CBA Dues Checkoff Mandate - (Posted On Tuesday, October 11, 2022)
- NLRB’s Proposed New Rule Would Expand Joint Employer Status to Entities With Indirect Control Over Worker Conditions - (Posted On Monday, September 12, 2022)
- Rough Waters Ahead: NLRB General Counsel Seeks to Bar Employer-Mandated Meetings to Discuss Union Organizing - (Posted On Wednesday, April 13, 2022)
- SCOTUS Says Stop: Enforcement of OSHA Vaccine-or-Test Mandate for Large Employers Blocked - (Posted On Friday, January 14, 2022)
- EEOC Updates COVID Guidance to Help Employers Address Religious Accommodations for Vaccine Requirements - (Posted On Wednesday, October 27, 2021)
- And Stay Out! Supreme Court Rules Golden State Regulation Giving Unions Access to Private Farmland Is Unconstitutional Taking - (Posted On Monday, July 12, 2021)