George O'Brien

Arbitration; Healthcare; Higher Education; Labor Management Relations; Litigation and Trials

George O'Brien represents and counsels employers on a wide variety of labor matters, including:

Collective bargaining

Unfair labor practice proceedings

Labor representation cases and elections

Grievances

Injunction proceedings

Arbitrations

Mediation

Union relationships

Wrongful discharge

Breach of contract

Discrimination claims

Jury trials

He appears in state and federal courts and represents management before the National Labor Relations Board and other administrative agencies, including the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, the Connecticut State Board of Labor Relations, and the Connecticut Board of Mediation and Arbitration. He has handled claims arising under:

The National Labor Relations Act

The Connecticut Municipal Employee Relations Act

State and Federal Anti-Discrimination Laws

State and Federal Wage & Hour Laws

In 2015, George obtained an important decision from the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that strengthened the rights of employers to regulate employee attire and conduct that may be offensive to customers. The decision overturned a controversial ruling of the National Labor Relations Board.

George tried the first federal court case in Connecticut involving a claim of sexual orientation discrimination, obtaining a defense judgment for a major insurance company. He helped a large Connecticut municipality privatize the town golf course, defeating union attempts to enjoin the transaction. He obtained a precedent-setting decision by the National Labor Relations Board defeating a union's successorship claim against a regional transportation company, and on behalf of an acute care hospital in New York he obtained multi-million dollar contract concessions from a registered nurses' union.

He won a defense verdict for a Connecticut acute care hospital in a jury trial involving discrimination and retaliation claims based on race and national origin. He has negotiated severance agreements with departing officers of numerous Connecticut employers, and represented a Massachusetts acute care hospital in an NLRB representation case and election in which the union was soundly defeated.

George's clients include:

Hospitals

Manufacturers

Physician Practices

Colleges and Universities

A founding member of Littler's New Haven office, George served for nine years as the office's first managing shareholder and continues as a core team member of the firm's Health Care Industry Practice Group. Prior to working at Littler, he was a partner in a major Connecticut general practice firm, where he chaired its labor and employment practice. He was the editor-in-chief of the Connecticut Law Review while in law school, and afterward served as the law clerk for Chief Judge T. Emmet Clarie of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut.