Eric C. Stuart

Eric is a shareholder in the Morristown office of Ogletree Deakins. He has a career-long commitment to representing employers in all aspects of traditional labor relations. Eric has extensive experience representing management in collective bargaining negotiations, arbitrations, union organizing campaigns, as well as unfair labor practice and representation proceedings. He has significant experience in the construction, manufacturing, gaming, waste collection and recycling, warehousing, transportation, logistics, hospitality, and service sectors.

Eric has successfully counseled clients in virtually every aspect of labor law including implementing long range labor strategies, strike preparations and injunctions, project labor agreements, prevailing wage litigation, complex business mergers, relocations, plant closings, corporate campaigns, and maintaining positive employee relations. Eric is a veteran litigator and is counsel of record in numerous reported decisions of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). He has litigated before the NLRB a multitude of significant unfair labor practice matters including allegations of mass refusal to hire, surface bargaining, unilateral changes, and claims of unlawful discipline and discharge.

Eric has developed and presented training programs for supervisors dealing with labor law compliance and other topics for human resources professionals. He is a member of the firm’s traditional labor steering committee and is also the author of numerous blogs and articles on developing labor relations issues. He also serves on the NLRB, Region 22 Practice and Procedure Committee.

NLRB Reverts to Quick Union Elections Rules

On August 24, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced a new final rule for union elections that revives the prior “ambush election” rules. The new rule compresses the time period between the time a representation petition is filed and the actual election. The impact of the rule is to make it more difficult for employers to educate employees about unions and unionization prior to a vote.

NLRB Modifies Independent Contractor Test

On June 13, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) overruled its 2019 independent contractor standard focused on whether workers have “entrepreneurial opportunity” and returned to a common law multi-factor analysis that could lead to more workers being found to have been improperly classified as independent contractors.

The Practical NLRB Advisor: Spring 2023

Ogletree Deakins’ Traditional Labor Relations Practice Group is pleased to announce the publication of the Winter 2023 issue of the Practical NLRB Advisor. This issue provides an overview of a host of controversial decisions and sharply divided opinions issued by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) resulting from the mid-December 2022 departure of Republican Board member John F. Ring.

Supreme Court Holds NLRA Does Not Preempt Claims for Intentional Property Damage Committed by Strikers

On June 1, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) does not preempt an employer’s state court tort claims alleging a union intentionally destroyed the employer’s property during a strike. The ruling is significant for employers in that it could open the door for lawsuits against unions to protect their interests and recover the value of property destroyed during increasingly contentious labor disputes.

NLRB Opens Door to Additional Remedies for Repeated Labor Violations

On April 20, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) imposed a host of expanded remedies against an employer that allegedly committed a number of repeated labor law violations in the context of collective bargaining. The decision signals the Board’s willingness to impose harsh remedies against employers more frequently, in the full spectrum of unfair labor practice litigation. Employers everywhere now face the prospect of defending against requests for harsh remedies when litigating a wide range of unfair labor practice charges.