Bret represents employers in collective bargaining agreement negotiations, grievance arbitrations, disciplinary investigations, unfair labor practice charges, petitions for recognition, and other matters before the National Labor Relations Board. He has experience first chairing labor arbitrations and reaching favorable outcomes. He also represents employers on employment matters under the FLSA, FMLA, ADEA, and Title VII. Bret also counsels companies on preventative measures (such as reviewing wage and hour practices), drafting company policies, and conducting workplace investigations to advise on employment actions decisions and potential liability.
Prior to joining Cozen O’Connor, he was a managing associate in the Labor & Employment practice group of a full service national law firm where he represented employers. Before that, he was a law clerk and later an associate attorney with a boutique Cincinnati, Ohio firm, where he represented employee organizations in all areas of traditional labor including, collective bargaining, contract administration/arbitration, unfair labor practice charges, petitions for recognition, and other administrative matters.
Bret earned his J.D. from the University of Cincinnati College of Law and his B.S. from Tennessee Technological University. While in law school, Bret served as a judicial extern to the U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephanie Bowman with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio and as a law clerk with the United States Attorneys’ Offices in Cincinnati, Ohio.