Amy Moor Gaylord, JD

Co-Chair, Traditional Labor Law Practice

Akerman LLP

With over 25 years of experience, Amy Moor Gaylord focuses her practice on traditional labor matters and employment litigation for both public and private sector employers with an emphasis on National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) proceedings, union organizing drives, NLRB-conducted elections, arbitration cases, contract negotiations, and employment discrimination matters. She has experience counseling clients in various industries, including healthcare, higher education, not-for-profit, public safety(fire/rescue, police, 911 emergency dispatch centers), hospitality, and entertainment, among others.

Amy has served as lead negotiator in hundreds of collective bargaining negotiations in both the public and private sectors. She frequently represents employers in state and federal court, including class action and TRO/preliminary injunction proceedings, in arbitrations, and before administrative agencies. In addition, she counsels clients regarding union avoidance, workplace harassment, and compliance with a variety of employment-related statutes, including Title VII, the NLRA, the ADEA, the ADA, the FMLA, and the FLSA.

Amy previously worked as an attorney with the National LaborRelations Board in Peoria, Illinois.

Notable Work

Higher Education:

• Representation of a large community college in contentious labor negotiations where the client was able to avoid a strike through creatively resolving a health insurance issue that was at the center of the conflict.
• Representation of a religiously affiliated college against a union that was trying to organize contingent faculty (adjunct and non-tenure track employees). By proving to the NLRB that the college was exempt from unionization as a religious educational institution, the union ultimately withdrew their petition on the day of the representation hearing rather than litigate the issue.

Public Sector

• Representation of municipal clients in numerous grievance arbitrations and matters brought by the Metropolitan Alliance of Police, the International Association of Fire Fighters, the Teamsters, the International Union of Operating Engineers, and the Service Employees International Union.
• Representation of a police department in arbitration for the discharge of a police officer who was drinking alcohol while wearing parts of his uniform. The arbitrator upheld the discharge.
• Representation of multiple police and fire departments administration and at the state labor board after departments implemented cost-saving measures, including flexible scheduling, layoffs, furloughs, and station closures.