Recent News:
David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, discussed with Inc. how to have a clean Halloween office party.
David partners with clients to offer practical solutions to labor and employment problems of all sizes and shapes before they end up in litigation. That might mean helping a human resources professional with a complicated disciplinary action or helping a Fortune 500 CEO respond to a union campaign. David understands his clients' businesses and works tirelessly and creatively to make a client's goal his goal. With a focus on partnership in decision making and an emphasis on supervisor training, many of David's clients have seen dramatic drops in employment litigation.
Of course, not every dispute can be avoided. Employment disputes can often be high stakes, bitter, and expensive. Unlike many employment lawyers, David is no stranger to a courtroom. Whether it is a non-compete or trade secret case, FLSA collective action, or an unfair labor practice charge at the NLRB, David has experience litigating high profile matters. In fact, because of his substantial trial experience, David is often called upon by clients to assist in complicated litigation outside of the employment realm, and David has successfully won cases across the state of Texas in both state and federal courts.
Because of David's common sense approach to labor and employment issues, he is often quoted in newspapers and magazines. He has also appeared as an employment law professional on talk radio and local CBS and Fox affiliates.
David is Board Certified in Labor and Employment Law by the state of Texas and has been named a Texas Super Lawyer Rising Star in Texas Monthly magazine.
When not helping clients, David can be found leading his son's Boy Scout troop, running a marathon, or hiking on a mountain.
News
October 27, 2018
David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, discussed with Inc. how to have a clean Halloween office party.
October 01, 2018
David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, discussed with KTRH 740AM about what Halloween costumes to avoid at work.
September 14, 2018
David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, discussed with Law360 how employers can plan ahead with natural disasters coming.
August 24, 2018
David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, was quoted in the Houston Chronicle about the impact of drug addicted employees on companies.
August 22, 2018
One hundred twenty-six Cozen O’Connor lawyers from 20 of the firm’s national offices have been selected for inclusion in the 2018 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.
August 16, 2018
David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, was quoted in SHRM discussing auto-deductions for lunch breaks.
May 14, 2018
David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, was quoted in SHRM discussing revenge in the workplace.
May 10, 2018
David Barron and Jennifer Williams' argument in Core Laboratories LP et al. v. AmSpec LLC et al. was discussed in a Law360 article covering the case.
April 05, 2018
David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, was featured on KIAH-TV/CW39 discussing how to stay safe in the office.
March 14, 2018
David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department spoke with Bloomberg Law about the involvement of the human resources department with anti-harassment programs at work.
February 28, 2018
Michael Schmidt, vice chair, and David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, were quoted in Bloomberg BNA's Workforce Strategies on sexual harassment.
January 11, 2018
David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, was a guest on the "In the Workplace" place show on Wharton Business Radio on SiriusXM channel 111.
November 21, 2017
David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, was quoted in SHRM about holiday time off at companies.
August 28, 2017
David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, discusses Hurricane Harvey on ebn.
August 08, 2017
David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, discusses this topic on True Viral News.
July 14, 2017
David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, discusses this topic in the Houston Chronicle.
May 11, 2017
David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, spoke with NewsRadio 740 KTRH Houston about the U.S. Senate considering legislation that could change the rules of overtime.
May 06, 2017
David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, discusses how much minimum wage should increase on Manta.
October 31, 2016
David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, discusses the dangers of office Halloween parties in Property Casualty 360.
October 21, 2016
David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, discusses his checklist for HR departments during a hurricane disaster on The Personnel Advisor.
August 23, 2016
David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, discusses the Fifth Circuit deeming gun rights more important than employer rights.
August 12, 2016
David Barron discusses the best way to prevent employees from using sick time for personal matters on FastCompany.com.
July 29, 2016
Cozen O’Connor promoted seven members to shareholder of the firm: David Barron (Houston), Melissa Brill (New York), Bryan Campbell (Seattle), W. Blake Coblentz (Washington, D.C.), Martin Gusy (New York), James Schultz (Philadelphia) and Matthew Weinstein (Philadelphia).
July 23, 2016
David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, discusses Pokemon GO in the New York Post.
July 20, 2016
David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, discusses pay cycles on TheStreet.com.
June 30, 2016
David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, discusses talking politics in the workplace in the Chicago Tribune.
May 25, 2016
David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, discusses the DOL's new overtime rules in Westlaw.
May 16, 2016
David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, discusses OSHA publishing employer's injury and illness reports in SHRM.
May 06, 2016
David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, discusses how much the minimum wage should increase on manta.com.
March 03, 2016
David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, discusses Kesha's recent lawsuit on SHRM.com
February 02, 2016
David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, discusses how to keep politics out of the workplace in the Houston Chronicle.
December 11, 2015
David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, discusses how to avoid workplace holiday party conflicts on Fox26.
August 28, 2015
David Barron discusses an employer’s task of unearthing potentially negative information about a prospective employee before hiring.
August 25, 2015
David Barron discusses the EEOC’s increased enforcement efforts around workplace testing and what employers should do to avoid litigation.
July 20, 2015
David Barron discusses the privacy protections employees have regarding personal information, such as HIPAA, which requires health plans, health providers and health care clearinghouses to keep an individual’s protected health information confidential.
June 30, 2015
David Barron discusses the U.S. Department of Labor’s proposal to more than double the salary threshold under which employees must be paid for overtime even if they’ve been classified exempt because they have management responsibilities or meet other exceptions.
May 18, 2015
David Barron discusses how employers can enforce dress code policies while avoiding litigation.
April 15, 2015
David Barron discusses the potential legal troubles a company can run into by prohibiting employees from facial piercings.
January 28, 2015
In an article titled ''How to not get sued when cutting jobs at your office,'' David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment Department, discusses five basic steps employers should take before they move forward with job terminations.
December 04, 2014
In an article titled ''The Secularization of the Holidays,'' David Barron, a member of Cozen O’Connor’s Labor & Employment Department, discusses the Montgomery County (Maryland) Board of Education’s decision to remove mention of any religious holidays from its 2015/16 calendar and the implications for employers. Government employers and schools operate under different rules than private companies, explained David. Governments must be careful to separate church and state, while private companies must not discriminate based on religion under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
October 28, 2014
In an article titled ''On Halloween, employees should save the sexy maid outfit for after work,'' David Barron, a member of Cozen O’Connor’s Labor & Employment Department, offers some do’s and don’ts to guard against sexual harassment and discrimination claims when it comes to picking a costume for the office Halloween party.
October 23, 2014
In an article titled ''Nazis and naughty nurses: 4 bone-chilling dangers of your office Halloween party,'' David Barron, a member of Cozen O’Connor’s Labor & Employment Department, alerts employers to a number of labor and employment issues that might arise from the annual Halloween costume party.
August 28, 2014
In an article titled “Myths Abound About Right-to-Work States,” David Barron, a member of Cozen O’Connor’s Labor & Employment Department, discusses the relationship between companies and unions in right-to-work states. “The reality is that companies often get along better with unions in right-to-work states because the union must actively justify its usefulness to newly hired workers and existing employees who can withdraw at any time. This incentivizes the company and union to work together for mutual benefit,” says David.
August 05, 2014
In an expert Q&A section of What’s Working in HR, David Barron, a member of Cozen O’Connor’s Labor & Employment Department, discusses employee requirements when inclement weather forces employers to close for a day. “Under the FLSA, requiring employees to make up lost time after a weather-related closing is permissible – but only for exempt employees, says David.
June 25, 2014
In an article titled “Effort to Appeal Human Equal Rights Ordinance,” David Barron, a member of Cozen O’Connor’s Labor & Employment Department, discusses the Human Equal Rights Ordinance in Houston. Barron states that if the ordinance passes this week, offices such as his, will start seeing an overflow of cases. He adds, “my clients employers now have to deal with not just federal & state, but they have to deal with the city now.”
February 05, 2014
In an article titled "When the clocks spring forward, what happens to paychecks?" David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment Department, discusses daylight-saving time and its impact on employees who work overnight.
January 24, 2014
In an article titled “HR Plaintiffs Build Their Case Against Lowe’s,” David Shadovitz, editor at Human Resource Executive, favorably cites David Barron’s HR headaches blog post titled “New Trend in Overtime Suits – HR Managers?” to explain that HR departments aren’t immune from overtime laws.
November 14, 2013
In an article titled ''Oh no, not the office party again!'' David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment Department, offers advice on how to limit the potential fallout from an office party gone horribly wrong.
November 11, 2013
In an article titled ''Out with Mistletoe, Spiked Punch and 'Santa's Little Helpers,''' David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment Department, discusses misconduct at company holiday parties.
October 03, 2012
David Barron and Charles Wilson, of the firm's Labor & Employment Group in Houston, discuss the employment-related dangers of political discourse in the workplace on Fox News.
June 15, 2012
Cozen O’Connor Labor & Employment lawyer David Barron spoke to Law 360 about the recent appeals regarding the NLRB’s requirement to hang posters about an employee’s (or employees’) right to unionize, and how the upcoming presidential election could make it all a moot point.
June 11, 2012
Chambers USA has recognized 28 Cozen O’Connor lawyers as leaders in their fields; five attorneys were recognized nationally and three were ranked in the top band.
June 05, 2012
David Barron, a member in Cozen O’Connor’s Labor & Employment practice, discussed employer policies toward employee appearance in ''Trading Tattoos for Jobs.'' ''With respect to piercings, tattoos, clothing, for the most part they have wide discretion under the law,'' explained Barron.
May 29, 2012
David Barron Quoted in HR.BLR.com
October 28, 2011
David Barron of the Houston office was quoted in Bloomberg Businessweek in an article titled, ''Promoting Employees Without Increasing Pay,'' regarding the legal problems potentially involved with the practice, specifically in the form of wage-and-hour lawsuits.
August 11, 2011
David Barron was quoted in the Houston Chronicle's article ''Employees: Getting Revenge on the Boss'' regarding Facebook's role in the workplace.
August 03, 2011
Cozen O'Connor's David Barron was interviewed by Ideas and Trends in an article titled ''No One Size Fits All Approach to Social Media in the Workplace.'' In the article, David comments on the various challenges that employers currently face with the rise of emerging social media.
June 16, 2011
Chambers USA has recognized 27 Cozen O’Connor lawyers as leaders in their fields.
Publications
October 23, 2018
David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, wrote in The Ladders about how Halloween office parties could turn into legal trouble.
September 17, 2018
David Barron and Aaron Holt answers common questions HR professionals have following a hurricane or other natural disaster.
August 20, 2018
San Antonio City Council approved a Paid Sick Leave Ordinance on Thursday, August 16, 2018, which allows workers to accrue up to 64 hours of paid sick leave each year. This law largely tracks the recent Austin sick pay ordinance, passed in February 2018. The highlights of the San Antonio legislation...
August 08, 2018
Protecting your trade secrets and proprietary information is a vital part of your business. Every company needs to have policies and agreements in place to prevent employees from stealing property, and wrongfully soliciting your employees and customers when they leave to work for a competitor....
July 19, 2018
Recently, the shared work-space startup WeWork announced a company-wide ban on eating meat. Specifically, the company announced that it will no longer serve meat at employee events or reimburse employees for meals that include meat of any type. Similar steps have been taken by other companies...
May 17, 2018
Many pollsters are predicting Congress could switch from Republican to Democratic control in November. It has been quite some time since we have seen any significant employment legislation from the Congress, but a newly invigorated Democrat Congress might get busy and start passing laws. A recent...
March 16, 2018
One of the benefits of the recent #Metoo movement is that companies in every industry are rethinking not only employment policies, but their approach to training and organizational culture. I was recently interviewed for an article on how companies should adapt their training to address the cultural...
February 02, 2018
The #MeToo movement started as a wave of press coverage exposing long-suppressed stories of sexual harassment and exploitation in Hollywood. That movement, however, has now gone far beyond Harvey Weinstein. High-profile cases involving judges, news anchors, politicians, and CEOs have become...
January 05, 2018
Just like the infamous line that Congress had to pass the Affordable Care Act to know what was in it, it seems we had to pass the new tax law to find out all of the hidden surprises. One item that received little publicity was an addition to the Internal Revenue Code that now prohibits a business...
January 01, 2018
David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, wrote in Law360 about three trends in 2018 that employers should fear.
December 13, 2017
David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, answered the question of the week in the Law.com Newsletter for December 2017.
December 05, 2017
It’s that time of year again. You know the one. Supervisors hurriedly completing performance evaluations at the last minute to avoid nasty emails from the HR Department about missed deadlines. Sound familiar? If so, your company may be doing more harm than good. Evaluations are not a time for...
November 03, 2017
David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, discusses the potential disasters at holiday parties in Texas Lawyer.
October 20, 2017
The Harvey Weinstein case has brought a spotlight to a problem that has plagued not only Hollywood but other professions as well. While Corporate America has largely cleaned up its act and instituted robust anti-harassment policies and procedures, the rise of social media and the lax workplace...
July 28, 2017
On July 26, the Dept. of Labor (DOL) published a Request for Information (RFI)(which can be found here), looking for input from the public on next steps after the Obama Administration’s effort to increase the minimum salary threshold for exempt employees was struck down in the courts. Although that...
June 21, 2017
With the first tropical storm of the season bearing down on the Gulf Coast, it is a good time to dust off your HR Department’s Hurricane Plan and make sure it is up to date. If you don’t have one, it is an even better time to put one together. Attached is Cozen O’Connor’s HR Guide for Hurricane and...
May 15, 2017
Comp time has long been available to public sector employees, but never for private companies. That might be changing soon.
On May 2, the House passed the Working Families Flexibility Act. This bill would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to allow comp time as an option in lieu of overtime. The...
April 10, 2017
This week, the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit became the first Federal Court of Appeals to hold that discrimination based on sexual orientation is actionable under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. A news article about the decision can be found here. A copy of the legal opinion can be...
March 01, 2017
President Trump has only been in office a little over a month, but one thing is clear. He intends to do what he said he would do on the campaign trail, especially in regard to immigration. What does that mean for employers? First, President Trump has said multiple times that he intends to cut down...
January 11, 2017
Well, 2017 is here; and Cozen O’Connor has just issued its annual Labor and Employment Observer, which contains thoughtful analysis on the year and review of what to expect in the future. A link to the materials can be found here.
With a new President and a Republican majority in Congress,...
December 23, 2016
David L. Barron discusses the rise in local legislation and the main areas of state and city legislation that warrant the most attention.
October 26, 2016
The enforceability of employee restrictions on competition has traditionally been up the states, with some, like California, largely banning such agreements, while others, like Texas, allowing them with reasonable limitations. On Tuesday, October 25, the White House took the unprecedented step of...
October 26, 2016
Brian Bulger, Jeremy Glenn and David Barron discuss a federal judge in the Eastern District of Texas who granted a preliminary injunction blocking portions of the U.S. Department of Labor’s so-called “blacklisting” rules addressing labor law violation disclosure requirements and restriction on use of arbitration agreements.
October 25, 2016
You can add anti-trust laws to the long list of legal risks that must now be managed by corporate HR departments. According to a recent guidance document prepared by the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice, the following acts could result in not only civil liability, but criminal...
October 04, 2016
This year, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced new regulations that would double the minimum threshold for a salaried employee exempt from overtime from $455 per week to $913 per week (or $47,476). The regulations also tied the salary threshold to inflation with an automatic adjustment every...
August 11, 2016
Texas and many other states in the South have passed state laws in recent years restricting employers from terminating employees who keep their lawfully-licensed concealed handgun locked in their vehicle. For the most part, these laws do not create a private cause of action that would allow a suit...
July 20, 2016
The latest craze is Pokémon Go, an app for smartphones that allows people to “catch” Pokémon creatures by integrating the real world with the virtual world. So what do you do if you see one of your employees wandering around your warehouse hunting a mythical animal, or, even worse, a delivery...
May 18, 2016
David L. Barron, Jeremy J. Glenn and George A. Voegele, Jr. discuss the DOL's final regulations regarding the FLSA executive, administrative and professional overtime exemptions, also known as the “white collar” exemptions.
May 17, 2016
David Walton and David Barron discuss the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 and its civil seizure provision.
February 23, 2016
David A. Barron and L. Stephen Bowers discuss Marin v. Dave & Busters, Inc. et al., a federal district court ruling allowing an employee to proceed with a class action lawsuit that alleges her employer violated ERISA when it reduced employees’ hours to avoid incurring increased costs under the ACA.
February 04, 2016
David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment department, discusses how to navigate the legal minefield of politics in the workplace in Law360.
January 06, 2016
The 2015/2016 Labor and Employment Observer looks back at significant developments in labor and employment law over the past year and forward to what employers can expect in 2016.
December 02, 2015
David Barron discusses how to handle political chatter in the workplace
September 16, 2015
David Barron offers helpful tips for HR professionals and employers preparing for the hurricane season.
July 13, 2015
David Barron and Jeremy Glenn authored an article concerning the Department of Labor’s proposed changes to the federal overtime rules.
July 01, 2015
The proposed rule would amend the existing regulations governing the white-collar exemptions and raise the required salary threshold for exemption from overtime to $50,440 per year by next year.
December 18, 2014
In an article titled ''Department of Labor Targeting Oil and Gas Contractors,'' David Barron, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Labor & Employment Department, highlights the increased scrutiny on employers in the oil and gas industry and offers some important tips for maintaining compliance with wage and hour regulations.
January 01, 2014
We are pleased to provide you with our 2013/2014 Observer, which looks back at the developments in labor and employment law over the past year and forward to what employers can expect in 2014.
May 01, 2013
During Barack Obama’s first term as president, most of his pro-employee legislative agenda was stymied by Congress. Undeterred, the Obama Administration turned to administrative agencies such as the Department of Labor, National Labor Relations Board, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to move forward its workplace agenda. The stakes continue to be high for employers during President Obama’s second term, particularly in the diversity-focused areas of equal employment opportunity and immigration.
March 27, 2013
One of Barack Obama’s first actions when he became president was to sign the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, resetting the statute of limitations each paycheck for equal-pay gender discrimination lawsuits and making it easier for employees to pursue them.
January 25, 2013
The devastating shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., beg the question: “What should employers do to protect the workplace?”
January 01, 2013
We are pleased to provide you with our 2012/2013 Observer, which looks back at the developments in labor and employment law over the past year and forward to what employers can expect in 2013.
December 12, 2012
The holidays are here and, along with them, the opportunity for employees to goof off and collectively test the limits of managers and Human Resources professionals everywhere. Don't let these headaches disrupt your office.
September 16, 2011
"Social Media in the Workplace Creates New Legal Risks" - Corporate Counsel - Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have forever changed how people communicate. Every little detail of people’s lives is now broadcast, tweeted, or blogged about on the Internet. The social media activities of employees have increasingly pushed the boundaries of lawful workplace behavior and created new legal challenges for employers seeking to control this new communication forum and minimize the legal risks to their organization.
September 12, 2011
Packing Heat in Parked Cars - Texas Lawyer - Effective Sept. 1, Texas employees can store weapons in their vehicles while at work. The new law specifically allows employees to store and have access to guns kept in privately owned vehicles parked on or in employer-provided parking areas. If in-house lawyers haven't done so already, now is the time to review company policies in light of the new law.
July 19, 2011
Annie Get Your Gun ... and Bring it to Work - Labor and Employment Alert! - Texas Governor Rick Perry signed a bill into law that will limit an employer’s right to prohibit guns and ammunition in the workplace. While the law does not necessarily allow employees to carry firearms at work, it does allow employees to store, and have access to, firearms kept in privately owned vehicles that are parked on or in employer provided parking areas. Considering the fact that 461,724 Texas residents hold a concealed handgun license
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