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Am Law 100 firm with practices in Business, Digital Assets and Data Management, Intellectual Property, Labor & Employment, Litigation and Tax.

Home | BakerHostetler

What to Expect and How to Prepare: A Guide to Employing Foreign Workers in the Age of Trump

Teresa Goody Guillén Supports New SEC Nominee in Institutional Investor Article

Carolina Alonso Shares Her Journey to the Legal Profession with High School Students

​Bill Bergmann Elected Treasurer of Court of Federal Claims Bar Association; Continues Role on Advisory Council

Todd has a wealth of experience in the labor relations arena developed over more than two decades, with a particular focus on contract negotiation, strike preparation and assistance, and labor arbitration and litigation. He has assisted clients in multiple industries in both the manufacturing and service sectors, including automotive, industrial equipment, warehousing and distribution, hospitality, healthcare and numerous others.

Todd is also a seasoned class and collective action litigator. In the wage and hour arena, he has provided effective, insightful representation to clients in cases involving overtime-exempt status, alleged off-the-clock work, rounding practices, the FLSA tip credit and various other complex issues. In addition, Todd has handled class actions involving plant closings, changes in retiree healthcare benefits and various state law issues.

Todd is listed in The Best Lawyers in America®. He leads BakerHostetler’s innovative labor relations blog, The Bargaining Table, providing clients with valued insights on National Labor Relations Board precedent and other legal developments. Todd is also a regular contributor to BakerHostetler’s Employment Class Action blog, offering commentary on recent class action decisions and trends affecting employers.

core/freeform

J.D., Duke University School of Law, 1998

B.A., Political Science, Youngstown State University, 1994

<ul>
<li>The Legal 500 United States
<ul>
<li>Recommended in Labor and Employment &#8211; Labor-management relations (2017, 2020)</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Acritas Star (2016, 2021)</li>
<li>BTI Client Service All-Star (2016)</li>
<li>The Best Lawyers in America® (2013 to 2025)
<ul>
<li>Ohio: Labor Law &#8211; Management</li>
<li>Ohio: Litigation &#8211; Labor and Employment</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>

Cleveland

Master Class in Labor Relations and Employment Law

The Bargaining Table

Q&A Regarding the NLRB’s Decision on Confidentiality and Non-Disparagement Provisions in Severance Agreements

The NLRB Embraces Relativism in its Relevance Test

10th Annual Labor Relations and Employment Law Master Class Series

Hundreds of BakerHostetler Attorneys Honored as 2023 Best Lawyers, Ones to Watch and Lawyers of the Year

Employers Beware: NLRB Remedies Likely to Be More Expansive Moving Forward

Third Circuit Tells the NLRB to Lighten Up and Take a Joke

NLRB General Counsel Seeks to Outlaw Employer Use of Captive Audience Meetings

The Times Are A-Changing for Employer Handbooks … Soon

Staying the Course … for Now

Sentence First, Verdict Later!

Another One Bites the Dust? NLRB Request for Briefing on Independent Contractor Standard Suggests Another Trump-Era Decision Is About To Be Overruled

The First Domino to Fall? NLRB Solicits Public Input on Test for Determining Appropriate Bargaining Units

Money, Money, Money Is Not Always Funny or Sunny – Just Take a Look at the NLRB’s Substantial Increases in Monetary Remedies and Job Reinstatements

Spoiler Alert: The NLRB Is Poised to Dramatically Rework Its Joint Employer Standard

What Are We Supposed To Do Now? Recommended Next Steps for Unionized Employers Regarding OSHA’s COVID-19 Vaccination/Testing Rule

Through the Looking Glass, Part 2: What Does ‘Protected Concerted Activity’ Look Like?

The Continuing Adventures of the Congressional Reconciliation Package: NLRA Civil Penalties Trimmed in Latest Version of Legislation

Hands Off My Tech: Employers May Not Restrict Employee Communications Transmitted via Third-Party Smartphone Applications

Through The Looking Glass: The NLRB Seeks To Expand The Concept Of ‘Protected Concerted Activity’ Beyond Its Imaginable Limits

NLRB Given a ‘Mulligan’ in Offensive Speech Case

‘Please Speak into My Lapel’: D.C. Circuit Finds That NLRB Properly Considered Secret Recording That Arguably Violated State Law

Employment Law Spotlight

BREAKING: OSHA’s Vaccine Mandate and Unionized Employer Bargaining Obligations

Caution Signs Ahead: New NLRB General Counsel Memo Offers a Surprising (and Alarming) Road Map of Plans and Priorities

191 BakerHostetler Attorneys Named in 2022 “Best Lawyers” List; 10 Recognized as “Lawyer of the Year”

A Brave, New World?  Recent NLRB Rulings Concerning Mail Ballot Elections May Be The Beginning Of A New Era In Board Elections

Will the Supreme Court’s Decision Overturning California Union Access Regulation Be a Bonanza for Nonagricultural Employers?

Labor Relations

Employment Litigation and Arbitration

Employment/Wage and Hour Class Actions

Labor and Employment

COVID-19 Compliance

<ul>
<li>Represented client in negotiating fiscally responsible plant closing agreement during expedited, unforeseen shut down of operations with no unfair labor practice charges filed.</li>
<li>Guided multiple clients through complex union decertification efforts with minimal subsequent litigation.</li>
<li>Led client bargaining team in negotiating economically sustainable collective bargaining agreement during significant industry-wide downturn.</li>
<li>Represented client in FLSA collective action alleging off-the-clock work, achieving an economically beneficial settlement for the client significantly below projected liability estimates.</li>
<li>Successfully represented clients in various labor arbitrations involving issues including discipline and discharge, bidding and awarding of vacant positions, drug testing, scheduling of mandatory overtime, subcontracting, the use of temporary staffing and various other issues.</li>
<li>Experienced in assisting clients with preparing for and defending against union organizing efforts under the National Labor Relations Board&#8217;s &#8220;ambush&#8221; and &#8220;micro-unit&#8221; election rules, including litigation over supervisory status, appropriate unit considerations and alleged campaign violations.</li>
<li>Represented a Tier One auto supplier in association with union negotiations at a plant of approximately 500 workers, including negotiation of significant concessions in wages, health insurance and pension benefits, necessitated by industry conditions.</li>
<li>Assisted a client in the negotiation of a plant shutdown and the relocation of bargaining unit work following an impasse in collective bargaining negotiations and a lockout of employees. Successfully argued before the National Labor Relations Board for pre-complaint dismissal of multiple unfair labor practice charges filed by the union.</li>
<li>Successfully negotiated a collective bargaining agreement that implemented a two-tiered wage scale, a new health insurance structure and the freezing of a defined benefit pension plan following client acquisition of a unionized facility.</li>
<li>Won a trial court verdict in a class action involving approximately 800 potential class members alleging unlawful termination of their collectively bargained retiree health insurance under Sixth Circuit Yard-Man precedent. Affirmed on appeal before the Sixth Circuit.</li>
<li>Obtained dismissal of a class litigation involving approximately 1,000 potential class members alleging unlawful implementation of caps on employer contributions toward retiree health insurance premiums. Affirmed on appeal before the Sixth Circuit.</li>
<li>Successfully argued a case of first impression before the Sixth Circuit in which the appellate court held that retirees can be required to arbitrate disputes over collectively bargained retiree health insurance.</li>
<li>Represented a client in the negotiation of a plant closing agreement caused by a global reorganization that closely followed (but did not result from) the unionization of employees. A favorable closing agreement was reached without the filing of unfair labor practice charges.</li>
</ul>

Todd A. Dawson

Todd A. Dawson

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