Michele Haydel Gehrke

Michele has experience before administrative agencies such as the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, the Civil Rights Department (formerly DFEH), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Occupational Safety & Health Administration.

A frequent adviser, Michele counsels clients regarding various labor and employment issues, including mandatory arbitration agreements, terminations, and drafting employment documents such as employment agreements, employee handbooks, and separation agreements and releases. She also assists clients with wage and hour audits and providing training.

Michele’s counseling and compliance experience extends to advising clients on COVID-19 employment and safety issues, and the myriad state and local laws dealing with paid sick leave and other protected time off.

Michele has significant experience in the airline industry and with the Railway Labor Act (RLA). Her niche is using the statute and her industry expertise in complex employment litigation and counseling matters.

Michele also has traditional labor experience under the RLA and has successfully defended airline employers in major disputes under the RLA in federal court. Michele has won appeals at the federal court of appeals level involving RLA hybrid class action claims for breach of contract against a major legacy carrier and breach of the duty of fair representation against the union, as well as claims to vacate an arbitrator’s award in favor of the airline, which were successfully dismissed at the pleading stage. She also has successfully defended employers in arbitration against minor disputes under the RLA involving interpretation of collective bargaining agreements or employee discipline and terminations. Michele also has experience negotiating collective bargaining agreements on behalf of carriers and handling representation disputes before the National Mediation Board. She also has expertise in labor relations in the bankruptcy context and successfully second-chaired a trial in the bankruptcy court on behalf of a major airline as it sought to renegotiate its labor contracts and terminate its pension plans.

Michele also has significant experience with the National Labor Relations Act. She has successfully represented employers in union organizing drives, decertification efforts, strikes, unfair labor practice charges, labor arbitrations, and litigation involving the National Labor Relations Board. She also advises employers on union-avoidance issues and has successfully represented unionized employers in defending breach of contract and employee termination claims at arbitration.