INTRODUCING

Stephanie J. Joseph is Staff Counsel at the California Teachers Association (CTA), where she advises and represents CTA and its affiliated chapters in matters relating to labor, employment and education law, including civil litigation, unfair labor practice proceedings, representation matters, arbitrations, layoffs, and special education matters. She also trains and advises union leaders and labor representatives on emerging Education Code issues, collective bargaining issues, and best practices for grievance handling and contract enforcement. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, she has also provided advice and counsel on the California Emergency Services Act, the myriad Executive Orders promulgated regarding the pandemic, and the interaction of those Orders with state and federal law, including the Education Code, the IDEA, the Rehabilitation Act and the ADA.

Ms. Joseph has significant experience, both in private practice and as in-house counsel at labor unions, representing union clients across a broad spectrum of industries, including skilled trades, food services, the entertainment industry, health services, and public sector unions with county and city employees. Throughout her career, Ms. Joseph has handled all manner of complex issues confronted by unions, including economic and unfair labor practice strikes, precedent-setting arbitrations, and state and federal court litigation to enforce the rights of unions and employees. She has provided representation for union clients before the Public Employment Relations Board, the National Labor Relations Board, the Los Angeles County Civil Service Commission, and various other administrative agencies. Ms. Joseph is also an experienced negotiator, and served as lead negotiator during an unfair practice strike against a major steel company.

Ms. Joseph earned her B.A., cum laude, from the University of Pittsburgh in 2000, and received her law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 2004, where she was awarded the McKnight Memorial Scholarship in Labor Law, the Marion Griffin Women’s Advocacy Scholarship, and the Frank Benson Creekmore Memorial Award. After law school she worked as a law clerk for the Honorable William J. Haynes, Jr. of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.

Ms. Joseph is a member of the Executive Committee of the Labor & Employment Law Section, where she serves as Vice-Chair of the Public Sector Law Conference Committee, Co-Chair of the Marketing Committee, and is a member of the Law Review Committee.