David B. Walston

• OSHA – coordinated employers’ internal investigation plans of industrial accidents, coordinated and participated in inspections and management employee interviews by OSHA; recently coordinated responses to two OSHA heat illness investigations which concluded with no citations; defended OSHA whistleblower complaint with no citation issued; negotiated withdrawal of citations and reduction of proposed penalties for two businesses
• MSHA – challenge to proposed assessments against mine operator and subcontractors for equipment and worksite conditions, and PPE violations
• National Labor Relations Act – advised manufacturers in defeating organizational efforts by trade unions and successfully defending unfair labor practices asserted under the National Labor Relations Act arising from the union organizational campaigns
• Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) – defends manufacturers, hospitals, restaurants, property management companies, landscapers, and event staffing businesses in FLSA individual actions and collective actions with potential possible classes ranging from 50 to 1,000 members
• Employment Civil Rights Claims – represents businesses in administrative charges, lawsuits (including class actions), and arbitrations involving claims of unlawful discrimination, hostile work environment, retaliation, and interference with protected rights, including:
  • Title VII, 42 U.S.C. §1981, and 42 U.S.C. §1983
  • Age Discrimination in Employment Act
  • Americans with Disabilities Act (including accessibility barriers)
  • Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act
• Code § 25-5-11.1 (workers’ compensation retaliatory termination)

Education

• J.D., Vanderbilt University Law School, 1987
• B.A., Vanderbilt University, 1984

Admission to Practice

• Alabama
• U.S. District Court, Middle, Northern and Southern Districts of Alabama
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit
• Poarch Band of Creek Indians Tribal Court

• American Bar Association – Labor and Employment Section
• Alabama State Bar – Labor and Employment Section
• Birmingham Bar Association
• King’s Home – Pro Bono Legal Counsel

• Workplace Safety Symposium – “Just Say “No”(When You Can): Employer Rights in Inspections” – Austin – December 7, 2023
• Workplace Safety Symposium – “Drafting Effective Safety Policies to Set Your Company Up for Success” – Austin – December 6, 2023
• Ogletree Deakins Podcast – “Workplace Strategies Watercooler 2023: OSHA Enforcement Post-COVID-19—What Exactly Does It Look Like?” – June 12, 2023
• Workplace Strategies Seminar – “OSHA Enforcement Post-COVID-19: What Exactly Does It Look Like?” – San Diego – May 12, 2023
• Ogletree Deakins Podcast – “OSHA’s ‘Wall-to-Wall’ Site-Specific Targeting Program Ramps Up” – March 7, 2023
• Primerus Defense Institute Convocation – “Medical Marijuana and Employment Law – Seeing through the Haze” – Colorado Springs – 2022
• Primerus Defense Institute Transportation Seminar – “Employment Matters in the Transportation Field” – 2020
• Inaugural Wage & Hour ExecuSummit – “Tip Credit – Get it Right or Write the Check” – Hartford – 2019
• Primerus Defense Institute Convocation – “Staying Compliant with Employment Law and the #metoo Movement” – Boca Raton – 2019
• Primerus Defense Institute Transportation Seminar – “Employment Issues Alphabet Soup – EEOC, FLSA, DOT and More” – Austin – 2019
• Alabama Self-Insured Association Summer Conference – “Employer Obligations to Provide Leave – The Triad: The Alabama Workers’ Compensation Act, The Family Medical Leave Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act” – Sandestin – 2018
• EPLI ExecuSummit – “EPIC Systems, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” – Hartford – 2018
• Alabama Self-Insured Association Summer Conference – “Gender Identity / Sexual Orientation – The New Battleground for Title VII Claims?” – Sandestin – 2015
• Primerus Business Law Symposium – “Social Media in the Workplace” – Chicago – 2014
• Alabama Association of Municipal Attorneys/Alabama Municipal Association Spring Law Conference – “Employment Issues for Public Employers – The New, the Revised, and the Old” – March 2011

• Chambers USA – Labor and Employment: Alabama (2020-present)
• AV^® Preeminent Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell
• Named the Best Lawyers^® 2018 Litigation – Labor and Employment “Lawyer of the Year” in Birmingham
• Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America®
  • Employment Law – Management (2010-2025)
  • Litigation – Labor and Employment (2010-2025)
• Mid-South Region Super Lawyers – Labor & Employment (2019-present)
• Benchmark Litigation – Alabama “Labor & Employment Star”