Michele Haydel Gehrke 

Michele Haydel Gehrke had a very successful year with several cases in what she describes as a niche area of her practice.

In addition to defending businesses in employment litigation and class actions, she also represents companies in union organizing campaigns and NLRB matters. And she represents airlines in labor matters arising under the federal Railway Labor Act.

Her unique niche is using her Railway Labor Act expertise when representing airlines in employment litigation, for instance, raising arguments that some employment causes of action are covered by collective bargaining agreements and should be sent to arbitration.

“It’s always a good thing for your client when you understand their industry and can jump in with that knowledge,” Gehrke said.

She did that and more successfully when defending United Airlines in three cases this past year.

The plaintiff in one case was removed from the airline’s lead flight attendant program for not following policies and procedures. She claimed discrimination and retaliation. After Gehrke won motions to dismiss, the plaintiff dropped some claims and appealed. Cattoche v. United Airlines, Inc., 22-16400 (9th Circ., filed Sept. 9, 2022).

In a second case, a flight attendant sued for wrongful termination when he was fired for falsely reporting his hotel room had been broken into during a layover. After contentious litigation in which Gehrke’s team sought sanctions against the plaintiff and his attorney, the court granted her summary judgment motion, and the plaintiff dropped his lawsuit. Chagas v. United Airlines, Inc., 2:19-cv-03860 (C.D. Cal, filed May 3, 2019).

The third case was unusual. United dismissed a flight attendant for wearing her uniform in postings to her OnlyFans account. In her wrongful termination and discrimination suit, she complained the airline had tougher standards for women’s social media accounts than men’s.

The case “had so many interesting issues,” Gehrke said, such as “the overlap of social media and code of conduct rules versus people’s rights under anti-discrimination laws and even labor laws. … It was one of these cutting-edge cases.”

In November, two weeks before trial, the court granted summary judgment. The case is now on appeal. Wawezenski v. United Airlines, Inc., B327940 (Cal. App. 2nd Dist., filed April 18, 2023).

On the traditional labor side of her practice, Gehrke last year represented Activision Blizzard when for the first time in the video game industry, workers voted to join a union. Over a four-day virtual trial, she and the company argued that the proposed bargaining unit was too small and too tightly integrated into other parts of the company’s activities, but the NLRB disagreed. “That was disappointing, although not unexpected given the political climate,” she said. Activision Blizzard, Inc., 31-CA-285511 (NLRB, filed Nov. 1, 2021).

Now, Gehrke is defending the company in a series of unlawful labor practice charges. “Most of them have been dismissed,” she said. “None have gone to complaint.”

— Don DeBenedictis