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Jarad M. Lucan

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Jarad is chair of Shipman's Employment and Labor Practice Group, where he practices on behalf of both public and private sector clients.  Jarad has successfully represented employers in grievance arbitration matters, prohibited practice proceedings before the State Board of Labor Relations, and unfair labor practice proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board.  He has also represented employers in cases involving claims of discrimination and retaliation before the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and State and Federal Courts.

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On Monday, February 5, 2024, the Region 1 Regional Director of the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) issued a Decision and Direction of Election…

Continue Reading Regional Director of NLRB’s Region 1 Office Upends College Sports by Declaring That Student Athletes Are Employees

Jarad Lucan will present the session, “Preparing for Connecticut’s Paid Family Medical Leave Insurance Program” during the Connecticut Conference of Independent Colleges (CCIC) Annual Member…
Continue Reading Connecticut Conference of Independent Colleges (CCIC) 2020 Virtual Annual Member Forum

On July 8, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that teachers of religious instruction at private religious schools are barred from bringing employment discrimination claims…
Continue Reading U.S. Supreme Court Limits Employees’ Rights to Bring Discrimination Claims Against Religious Schools

Unions have been actively organizing graduate students, while wanting to avoid having the National Labor Relations Board involved. They are particularly concerned that President Trump’s appointees to the National Labor Relations Board, who are now a majority of the Board members, will revisit and reverse the Columbia University decision. That decision determined that graduate students were employees and could organize and bargain collectively.

Already, the University of Chicago and Loyola University Chicago have refused to bargain with their graduate students after they formed unions through the NLRB process. These universities are challenging the status of graduate students as employees and appear to be willing to have the new Labor Board review their cases and potentially go to the circuit courts before negotiating with the unions.
Continue Reading Graduate Students Organize Outside the National Labor Relations Board’s Jurisdiction

College CampusThere have been two recent developments regarding union organizing efforts on University campuses.  At Northwestern University, a mail ballot election among adjunct faculty took place in July 2016. The Service Employees International Union challenged 25 of those ballots but the challenged ballots were not finally resolved and opened until earlier this month.  Those ballots, which represented approximately 5 percent of the total vote, were sufficient to determine the outcome of the vote.  The Labor Board reviewed the eligibility of each of the persons whose vote the Union  challenged and found that each was eligible to vote.  The Labor Board then opened the ballots and as a result, the final count led to a University victory.  The final vote was 242 to 231 against joining the Union.  Although the University prevailed, getting eligible voters to participate in the election process  continues to present a significant challenge.  In this case, there were approximately 700 eligible voters, but only about 72 percent of them cast votes in the election. In any organizing drive, it is imperative to get eligible voters to vote, particularly those who are apathetic, as they tend to resist change and are not supportive of having to pay a union.  Colleges and universities, therefore, must consider the best ways, through actions and words, to inspire voting. 
Continue Reading Recent Unionizing Developments on Campus