Emphasis
Airline and Railroad Labor Law
Employee Disability and Leave Issues
Whistleblower and Other Retaliation Actions
Preventive Employment and Labor Law
Discrimination Litigation
Biography
Mr. Petesch handles labor and employment matters for the airline industry and others including retail and service industries. His practice includes litigation under the Railway Labor Act, the Americans With Disabilities Act, FMLA, Title VII, the ADEA, Sarbanes-Oxley, and AIR 21. He works with airlines on union avoidance, collective bargaining, arbitrations, AIR 21 whistleblower claims, and strategic advice. He is co chair of Littler's Transportation Industry Practice Group.
He counsels, litigates and trains on disability and leave matters and on whistleblower matters under Sarbanes-Oxley. He has successfully defended employers in individual and class-based cases before federal courts and agencies, as well as state courts. He has also represented the Society for Human Resource Management as an amicus participant in four employment law cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Education
J.D., Georgetown University Law Center, 1985
A.B., Political Science, University of Michigan, 1982, with High Honors and High Distinction
Publications
Mr. Petesch has published numerous articles on the Americans With Disabilities Act and other employment issues for HR Magazine, HR Legal Report and a variety of trade journals, and has been quoted on labor and employment issues in the Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Business Week, HR Magazine, USA Today, National Public Radio, PBS and CNN. He was selected to co-author, with colleague Peter Susser, BNA's upcoming second edition of "Disability Discrimination in the Workplace."
Honors & Awards
Listed in Best Lawyers in America and AV Peer Review rated, the highest rating possible, by Martindale-Hubbell. Received National Business and Labor Award for Leadership on HIV/AIDS from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Activities
District of Columbia and Maryland State Bar Associations, American Bar Association, Society for Human Resource Management (served on special expertise panels on Ethics and on Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability); National Business Partner in U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Business Responds to AIDS program.
Cases/Courts/Judges
Licensed to practice before state and federal courts in Maryland and the District of Columbia, and is admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court and Courts of Appeals for the D.C., Fourth, Third, and Ninth Circuits.