Recent News:
David Barron joined the GovExec Daily podcast to discuss mental health accommodations in the workplace.
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
November 30, 2022
David Barron joined the GovExec Daily podcast to discuss mental health accommodations in the workplace.
November 08, 2022
David Barron was quoted in SHRM discussing employers requiring COVID-19 vaccination for employees.
September 13, 2022
David Barron was quoted in The Balance discussing if someone who is collecting unemployment can start a business.
August 22, 2022
210 Cozen O’Connor lawyers from 24 of the firm’s nationwide offices for inclusion in the 2023 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.
June 06, 2022
David Barron was quoted in Law.com discussing how workers are unhappy about returning to the office and how they are playing a legal card.
May 31, 2022
David Barron and Aaron Holt were quoted in Law.com discussing the challenges employers face with remote workers.
April 04, 2022
David Barron was quoted in SHRM discussing when it is appropriate to immediately dismiss an employee even after they have given their notice of resignation.
March 18, 2022
David Barron joined This Morning with Gordon Deal to explain why you should embrace March Madness at work this year.
March 09, 2022
David Barron spoke with HR Dive discussing how long COVID-19 may constitute a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
January 14, 2022
David Barron was quoted in Forbes discussing the Biden administration's vaccine mandate blocked in a Supreme Court ruling.
December 16, 2021
David Barron was quoted in SHRM discussing how an employee's or job applicant's COVID-19 related impairment may qualify as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
December 16, 2021
David Barron was quoted in Yahoo! news discussing employers handling vaccine mandates.
December 16, 2021
David Barron spoke with DNYUZ about why some employers are not mandating the COVID-19 vaccine.
November 04, 2021
David Barron was quoted in the Dallas Morning News discussing the challenges employers face with the latest COVID-19 vaccine requirements for employers of 100 or more employees.
August 19, 2021
Best Lawyers selected 210 Cozen O’Connor lawyers from 23 of the firm’s nationwide offices for inclusion in the 2022 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.
August 04, 2021
David Barron spoke with Bloomberg Law about the latest on offices reopening with COVID-19 vaccination policies.
August 03, 2021
David Barron was quoted in CNBC discussing the latest on returning to work.
July 23, 2021
David Barron was quoted in The New York Times discussing the possibility of employers implementing mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policies.
July 23, 2021
David Barron was quoted in Inc. discussing the confusion that comes with asking someone about their COVID-19 vaccination status.
July 09, 2021
David Barron spoke with Inc. about the challenges employers face with the return to work policies.
June 09, 2021
David Barron spoke with NBC News about the challenges companies face when returning to work.
June 04, 2021
David Barron spoke with SHRM about how the CDC's recent guidance on masks has encouraged some vaccinated employees to go maskless in the workplace.
May 18, 2021
David Barron was quoted in Yahoo! News discussing the impact of the CDC mask-dropping guidance for those who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in the workplace.
May 17, 2021
David Barron joined This Morning with Gordon Deal to discuss the latest CDC mask guidelines and how it applies in the workplace.
May 17, 2021
David Barron was quoted in Politico discussing if employees should still be required to wear masks on the job.
May 14, 2021
David Barron was quoted in Forbes discussing how the latest CDC mask guidelines impact employers.
May 14, 2021
David Barron was interviewed by Law.com discussing what changing face mask rules mean for the workplace.
May 14, 2021
David Barron was quoted in HR Dive discussing how the latest CDC mask guidelines impact employers.
April 21, 2021
David Barron was quoted in SHRM discussing the possibility of mandatory vaccinations at work.
March 22, 2021
David Barron spoke to Law360 about the upcoming summer internship season and the legal challenges.
March 08, 2021
David Barron was quoted in SHRM discussing how pandemic fatigue is creating challenges and legal risks that employers need to address.
March 03, 2021
David Barron spoke with FOX26 Houston about the new safety protocols that OSHA is issuing.
March 03, 2021
David Barron joined the Jimmy Barrett Show to discuss Texas lifting COVID-19 restrictions and how to handle the new rules with your employees and customers.
February 19, 2021
David Barron was quoted in Law360 discussing the severe cold weather crisis in Texas.
February 12, 2021
David Barron and John Ho were quoted in Bloomberg Law discussing COVID-19 OSHA citations.
February 09, 2021
David Barron spoke with CNBC about how most U.S. organizations said that they will encourage, rather than require, their employees to get vaccinated, according to research from the Society for Human Resource Management conducted in December.
January 20, 2021
David Barron was quoted in Inc. discussing how employers can handle their employees receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.
January 08, 2021
David Barron spoke with AmpGoo about the potential consequences employees face if they attended the Capitol Hill riot.
December 15, 2020
David Barron was quoted in Business Insurance discussing the impact the Biden administration could have on the NLRB.
December 08, 2020
David Barron was quoted in the Washington Post discussing one of the issues facing the bipartisan stimulus negotiations is the insistence by Senate Republicans that businesses and other entities have sweeping immunity from coronavirus-related lawsuits.
December 02, 2020
David Barron spoke with The Washington Post about how employers can incentivize their employees to take the COVID-19 vaccine without requiring it.
November 25, 2020
David Barron spoke with HR Drive about how the upcoming holiday season is about to collide with a pandemic and employers have some options when it comes to workers' personal travel.
November 16, 2020
David Barron spoke with CNN about the possibility of employers requiring employees to take the COVID-19 vaccine.
November 06, 2020
David Barron was quoted in Law360 discussing what companies should consider with the hiring process during the COVID-19 pandemic.
October 23, 2020
David Barron was quoted in Law360 discussing how safety concerns and demands for hazard pay are compounding the wage and benefits issues that typically drive conflicts at the bargaining table, while employers have been hesitant to make concessions amid a business environment as uncertain as any they've ever faced.
October 16, 2020
David Barron did an interview with Law.com about the pros and cons of going back into the office and the issue of Immunity Discrimination.
October 12, 2020
David Barron discussed with HR Drive whether an employer can force employees to receive a vaccine for COVID-19.
September 24, 2020
Cozen O’Connor attorneys David L. Barron, Stephen P. Pate, A. Martin Wickliff, Jr., and Joseph A. Ziemianski were named 2020 Texas Super Lawyers.
September 22, 2020
David Barron spoke with Law.com about how your company can require you to return to the office once the office space has been COVID-19 approved for occupancy.
September 22, 2020
David Barron was quoted in Human Resource Executive discussing a new type of bias that involves recruiters who favor job candidates who have already contracted and survived COVID-19.
August 26, 2020
David Barron spoke with the Southeast Texas Record about how he believes there will be a large number of cases filed in front line industries and workplaces where there have been substantial outbreaks of COVID-19.
August 20, 2020
Best Lawyers selected 201 Cozen O’Connor lawyers from 23 of the firm’s nationwide offices for inclusion in the 2021 edition of The Best Lawyers in America© (Copyright 2020 by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken, SC).
August 17, 2020
David Barron joined the GovExec Daily podcast to discuss how employers and employees can stay away from hostile environments.
August 14, 2020
David Barron was quoted in SHRM discussing how employers are also facing issues when handling drug-testing logistics during the pandemic.
August 13, 2020
David Barron spoke with SHRM about how now that marijuana is legal in many states, can employers still ban it from the workplace?
July 23, 2020
David Barron was quoted in Yahoo! Finance discussing employers requiring employees to surrender their right to sue over COVID-19.
July 17, 2020
David Barron was quoted in Law360 discussing the possible impact of the upcoming school year on employers.
July 15, 2020
David Barron spoke with CBS Philly about the challenges families face with schools reopening.
July 08, 2020
David Barron spoke with SHRM about the ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that two elementary school teachers at religious schools could not pursue their claims of age and disability discrimination.
July 08, 2020
David Barron spoke with Supply Chain Brain about the legal issues for employers that might arise from employees contracting COVID-19 in the workplace.
July 06, 2020
David Barron discussed with NBC Bay Area about the challenges many businesses and employers are facing as they try to reopen while also protecting the health of their workers.
July 01, 2020
David Barron spoke with Law360 about whether employers should have employees sign COVID-19 liability waivers.
June 16, 2020
David Barron spoke with Benefits Pro about the Supreme Court's ruling that the protections imposed by the 1964 Civil Rights Act extended to gender identity and sexual orientation.
May 19, 2020
David Barron was quoted in Fortune discussing what people should do if their unemployment claim is denied.
May 12, 2020
Cozen O'Connor Labor & Employment attorneys were mentioned in HR Dive discussing re-opening guidelines from the COVID-19 pandemic.
May 08, 2020
David Barron was quoted in HR Dive discussing the risks employers have in reopening business from the COVID-19 pandemic.
May 08, 2020
David Barron was quoted in the Defender Network discussing the rights employees have if they refuse to return to work as businesses begin to reopen.
May 04, 2020
David Barron spoke with HR Dive about how the recall of employees could present a series of legal pitfalls for the unprepared.
April 27, 2020
David Barron was quoted in SHRM discussing if an employee contacts the EEOC for a right-to-sue letter during the COVID-19 pandemic.
April 22, 2020
David Barron spoke with Fortune about the rights that furloughed employees have.
April 20, 2020
David Barron was quoted in SHRM discussing what employers should do when an employee test positive for COVID-19.
April 17, 2020
David Barron was quoted in Inc. discussing the challenges that employers will face when they reopen their business during the COVID-19 pandemic.
April 15, 2020
David Barron spoke with Employee Benefit Adviser about employers preparing to reopen nonessential businesses.
April 10, 2020
David Barron was quoted in Getaka discussing the difference between being furloughed and being laid off.
April 08, 2020
David Barron spoke with CNBC about employers checking the temperature of employees.
April 03, 2020
David Barron was quoted in Crunchbase discussing the COVID-19 stimulus bill for small businesses in the United States.
March 27, 2020
David Barron joined a town hall discussion about the recent stimulus package that was passed by the Senate.
March 26, 2020
David Barron spoke with CNBC about the new federal legislation that was signed into law that included changes to the paid sick leave requirements included in the Family and Medical Leave Act.
March 25, 2020
David Barron spoke with Inc. about how the COVID-19 related stimulus package will impact employee benefits.
March 24, 2020
David Barron was quoted in The Times and Democrat discussing the federal government's emergency coronavirus relief law.
March 18, 2020
David Barron spoke with Yahoo! Finance about how COVID-19 could be an exception to the rule involving the WARN Act.
March 03, 2020
David Barron discussed with Best Life about how employers should take extra care to avoid workplace discrimination as coronavirus fears increase.
February 28, 2020
David Barron was quoted in The Washington Post discussing what he sees how businesses are handling coronavirus with their employees.
October 28, 2019
David Barron was quoted in The Ladders discussing how employees should dress for Halloween.
September 18, 2019
David Barron was quoted in Patch discussing how companies should handle office Halloween parties.
August 28, 2019
Best Lawyers selected 138 Cozen O’Connor lawyers from 21 of the firm’s national offices for inclusion in the 2020 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.
June 05, 2019
David Barron joined The Jimmy Barrett Show on KTRH 740AM to discuss violence in the workplace and how to handle the issues.
March 04, 2019
David Barron discussed with Law360 about the legislative session in Texas as lawmakers advance bills that would bar cities from enacting local employment rules.
February 07, 2019
David Barron discussed with SHRM what an HR professional should say to an employee when a workplace investigation is being conducted.
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.
Publications
July 05, 2022
In today's episode, I offer the takeaways from the Supreme Court's June 2022 Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, and am joined by colleagues for a roundtable discussion on the impact of the decision on benefits, health care, and labor and employment law.
Download this episode....
October 13, 2021
Aaron Holt answers questions employers may have about Texas's Executive Order No. GA-40.
June 16, 2021
Dave Barron discusses new OSHA guidance for vaccinated workers.
June 07, 2021
In light of recent guidance issued by the Center for Disease Control and the EEOC, we have updated our Return to Work Checklist.
January 22, 2021
David Barron, John Carrigan, Jr., Arielle Eisenberg, Aaron Holt, and Nandini Sane designed a guide on how employers can handle the COVID-19 vaccination for their employees. The most important question right now for Human Resources professionals is vaccination and more specifically, how to implement...
January 20, 2021
David Barron, John Carrigan, Jr., Arielle Eisenberg, Aaron Holt, and Nandini Sane designed a guide on how employers can handle the COVID-19 vaccination for their employees.
January 19, 2021
Adam C. Gutmann and David L. Barron discuss the landmark ruling in Swales v. KLLM Transport Servs., LLC, wherein the court did away with the two-step Lusardi framework that most FLSA collective actions have followed for the last 33 years.
November 23, 2020
David Barron, Joseph Quinn, Jake Rubinstein, Di Addy Tang, Peter Ennis, Adam Gutmann, and Anne discuss various state laws that may impact employers.
September 01, 2020
The latest projections estimate that nearly 300,000
Americans will die from COVID-19 by the end of 2020. Many of those individuals
will be employed when they contract the virus, and a significant number will be
workers in front line businesses such as retail, manufacturing, or healthcare,
where the...
August 06, 2020
David Barron, David Hackett, Nandini Sane, and Bethany Vasquez designed an FAQ to address concerns that employers have regarding COVID-19 and the Fall semester.
August 05, 2020
David Barron discusses the Southern District of New York's decision on August 3, 2020, finding that four portions of the DOL's final rule exceeded the DOL’s authority and should be set aside as invalid.
April 24, 2020
Cozen O'Connor Labor and Employment attorneys addressed how employers should plan returning to work post-coronavirus.
April 09, 2020
Adam Gutmann discusses what employers should do when employees strike, participate in sickouts, or request PPE or to work from home due to concerns surrounding COVID-19.
March 16, 2020
David Barron and John Ho designed a response plan for employers facing coronavirus, along with questions for employees.
March 13, 2020
David Barron and Debra Friedman answer employers' frequently asked questions when it comes to the coronavirus.
January 31, 2020
David Barron wrote about company policies involving illness in the workplace and five important questions that both employees and employers should be asking.
January 24, 2020
With the outbreak of the corona virus dominating headlines,
it is a great time to dust off the company policy on dealing with flu season
and infectious diseases, generally, in the workplace. Contagious diseases
are particularly troublesome subjects for companies because of the varied
circumstances...
October 01, 2019
David Barron wrote about the boundaries employers should set when they celebrate Halloween at work.
September 04, 2019
Texas has largely avoided the wave of marijuana legalization sweeping the country and the accompanying legal complications that have come along for the ride. Those days may be numbered as the Texas Legislature recently passed a significant expansion of the state’s Compassionate Use Program. The...
June 27, 2019
It’s hurricane season, and companies all along the Gulf should have a plan in place not only to address business continuity issues, but also the human resources and staffing questions that arise in the event of a natural disaster like a hurricane or flooding event. Our firm has prepared the...
June 10, 2019
The Texas legislative session has come to a close, and the much expected law banning cities from implementing sick leave ordinances and similar employment laws failed to make it to the Governor’s desk. The reason for the collapse of the proposed bill (which had broad support from Governor Greg...
April 10, 2019
At the beginning of the Texas Legislature session this year, it seemed like a slam dunk that conservative lawmakers would stop Austin and other cities in their tracks in their efforts to pass employment laws like mandatory sick pay. Senate Bill 15 (text here) passed through the Texas Senate...
April 01, 2019
David Barron wrote about the two disturbing trends that employers find themselves confronting.
March 11, 2019
David Barron and Adam Gutmann discuss the DOL's proposal to increase the threshold at which employers can invoke certain “white collar” exemptions to the Fair Labor Standards Act overtime requirements to $679 per week ($35,308 per year).
January 29, 2019
A new year always brings new headaches for HR professionals. So far, 2019 has been off to a running start with a government shutdown, the early start of the next presidential campaign and talks of major immigration reform. Here is the list of issues that should be on the radar for every company’s HR...
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...