Christi L. Coleman

Partner | Employment, Labor, and Benefits

About

Christi Coleman is a partner in the Chicago office of Pierson Ferdinand. Christi's practice is focused on representing and counseling employer and employee clients in a wide array of labor and employment law matters including public and private sector collective bargaining and workplace investigations.

  • With over twenty years representing management of every size, Christi offers counseling and representation in a broad range of traditional labor and employment issues. She has extensive experience in state and federal courts, as well as grievance arbitrations and unfair labor practice charges with public sector labor relations boards. In addition to her labor and employment practice, Christi regularly represents local and municipal organizations on Sunshine Law/FOIA and Open Meetings compliance, governance issues, and litigation defense.

    Christi enjoys counseling clients in the drafting of contract proposals for collective bargaining agreements, as well as serving as chief negotiator and spokesperson at the collective bargaining table.

    As a Certified Executive Coach, Christi’s primary focus is on preventing litigation through the creation of sound business strategies to manage the human resource. Christi regularly drafts employee handbooks and policies, conducts employee and manager training, and performs independent investigations for harassment and discrimination complaints. This preventative approach also focuses on the creation of workable employee agreements, job descriptions, and evaluations.

    During the COVID-19 pandemic, Christi counseled clients through employee leave requests and utilization of the CARES Act stimulus funds through the Paycheck Protection Program. She continues to counsel clients in how the pandemic affected the way employers manage employee leaves.

    Christi also serves as a civil mediator in Missouri, where she mediates employment disputes, domestic relations matters, and pre-litigation disputes of all kinds.

Practices

  • Appellate

  • Arbitration and Mediation

  • Education

  • Employment and Labor

  • Government and Government Affairs

  • Litigation and Risk Management

Admissions

  • Illinois

  • Missouri

  • U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri

Education

  • Saint Louis University School of Law, Juris Doctor, 2001

  • University of Missouri - St. Louis, Bachelor of Arts, Political Science, cum laude, 1998

Associations

  • American Bar Association

  • Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis

  • IAPO International Association of Professional Executive Coaches

  • Missouri Bar Association

  • Society of Human Resource Managers (SHRM)

  • Member, Association of Missouri Mediators

Awards and Honors

  • Super Lawyers Rising Star, 2016-2017

Certifications

  • Certificate, Wefel Center for Employment Law, St. Louis University School of Law

  • Executive Coaching Certificate, IAP Career College

Pro Bono and Philanthropy

  • Active in church-based recovery ministry and worship team

Experience

  • Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP

Presentations

  • Sandberg Phoenix Labor and Employment Podcast, November - December 2021, Multiple Episodes on Apple Podcasts and Spotify Podcasts

  • OSHA Mandatory Vaccination ETS and Return to Work Issues, CEO Roundtable, Fall 2021

  • Employer Handbook and Harassment Training, City of Washington, October 2021

  • Employer Policies and Harassment Training, Walters Golf Management, Spring 2021

  • Madison County Legal Liability, Harassment and Discrimination Training, County-Wide, Spring 2019

  • “Legal Beagle, the School Mascot,” Client Seminars, July and August 2016

  • “Over Time, the Federal Government Will Make You Pay More in Overtime,” Southeast Missouri Superintendents Association, February 2016

  • “Legal Updates in Education,” Regional Office of Education No. 3, December 2015

  • “Over Time, the Federal Government Will Make You Pay More in Overtime,” Southwestern Illinois College, November 2015

  • “Collective Bargaining,” BIOME Charter School, November 2015

  • “Absentee Amy,” Client Seminars, July and August 2015

  • “Aggregation Aggravation: Fair Labor Compliance for Charter Schools,” July 2015

  • “Navigating Rough Waters: When the Ada, FMLA and Workers Compensation Form the Bermuda Triangle of Employee Leave,” Human Resource Management Association of St. Louis, February 2015

  • “To Pay or Not to Pay: Complying with the Fair Labor Standards Act,” Missouri Association of School Business Officials, April 2014

  • “Collective Bargaining: Where Do We Go From Here?” Missouri Association of School Business Officials, April 2014

  • “Substitutes and Other Sporadic Employees: Avoiding the Sand Traps,” Missouri Association of School Business Officials, April 2013

  • “Navigating Cyber Waters,” Multiple Regional Offices of Education (Fall 2010)

  • “Sexual Harassment Inservice for Administrators,” Tri County Special Education Joint Agreement (November 2010)

  • “Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse and Neglect for School Employees,” Collinsville Community Unit School District No. 10 (October 2010)

  • “What You Need to Know About Student Records,” Collinsville Community Unit School District No. 10 (October 2010)

  • “Understanding the New Regulations to the Family and Medical Leave Act,” Firm Administrators’ Conference (September 2010) and St. Clair County Regional Office of Education (March 2009)

  • “Navigating Cyber Waters,” Firm Administrators’ Conference (September 2010)

  • “Effectively Managing Employee Leave,” Firm Administrators’ Conference (June 2008)

  • “Cyberbullying,” Firm Administrators’ Conference (June 2008)

  • “Liability for Racial and Sexual Discrimination,” Galatia Community Unit School District No. 1 (January 2007)

  • “Internet Liability for School Districts,” Illinois Educational Technology Conference (November 2006)

  • “The Administrator’s Role in Collective Bargaining,” Mississippi Valley Insurance Cooperative (October 2006)

  • “Responding to Sick Leave Abuse,” Wabash and Ohio Valley Special Education District (July 2006)

  • “Documenting Employee Misconduct and Poor Performance and the Illinois Personnel Records Review Act,” Southern Illinois University – Edwardsville Police Department (July 2006)

  • “Internet Liability,” Multiple Area Learning Technology Hubs (Spring, Fall and Winter 2006-2007)

  • “The Legal Framework of the Employment Relationship,” Lorman Education Services (April 2006 and April 2007)

  • “Documenting Employee Misconduct and the Illinois Personnel Records Review Act,” Lorman Education Services (April 2005, April 2006 and April 2007)

  • “Health and Medical Data: How Do New Privacy Guidelines Affect You?” National Business Institute (January 2006)

  • “Sex Equity Compliance in Public Schools,” Southwestern Community Unit School District 9, Plasa, IL (January and February 2005)

Publications

  • “NLRB Office of the General Counsel Clarifies Position on Employers’ Duty to Bargain New OSHA ETS,” SPvG Blog, November 2021

  • “Employers with Federal Contract Required to Ensure Employees are Vaccinated,” SPvG Blog, October 2021

  • “President Biden Requests OSHA Mandate COVID-19 Vaccination for Large Employers,” SPvG Blog, September 2021

  • “The Sun Sets on 2020- and the FFCRA,” SPvG Blog, January 2021

  • “The CDC Has Reduced the Recommended Duration of Quarantine Periods for Casual COVID-19 Exposures,” SPvG Blog, December 2020

  • “Illinois Employers Reminded to Submit Their 2019 ‘Final Judgment’ Disclosures,” SPvG Blog, October 2020

  • “Updated Forms Issued for Implementing FMLA from the US DOL,” SPvG Blog, August 2020

  • “Supreme Court Issues Landmark Ruling, Extending Federal Anti-Discrimination Protections to the LGBT Workforce,” SPvG Blog, June 2020

  • “Key Provisions of the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act,” SPvG Blog, June 2020

  • “What Employers Need to Know About Telework Reimbursements,” SPvG Blog, April 2020

  • “Department of Labor Issues Rules on Enforcement of the FFCRA for Employers,” SPvG Blog, April 2020

  • “COVID-19: What Employers Need to Know About Employee Privacy & Time Off,” SPvG Blog, March 2020

  • “Senate Bill 75 and Its Impact on Illinois Employers,” SPvG Blog, February 2020

  • “Illinois Governor Signs New Severance Law, Limiting Public Employee Severance Options,” SPvG Blog, August 2018

  • “’Tis the Season – Election Season, That Is,” Missouri Association of Rural Educators, March 2015

  • “To Aggregate, or Not to Aggregate? When Non-Certified Employees Perform Multiple Jobs,” Missouri Association of School Business Officials, March 2014

  • “’It’s Alright – I’ll Just ‘Salary’ Them’ : Common Misconceptions About Non-Exempt Employees,” Missouri Association of School Business Officials, August 2013

  • “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: How ‘Obamacare’ Impacts Missouri Public Schools,” Missouri Association of Rural Educators, February 2013

  • “Controversial Candy Canes - The Supreme Court’s Decision Not To Hear Two Cases,” Missouri Association of Rural Educators, July 2012

  • “Getting Too Friendly: The Amy Hestir Act,” Missouri Association of Rural Educators, October 2011

  • “EEOC Issues Regulations Implementing the ADAAA,” Missouri Association of School Business Officials, September 2011

  • “Don’t Get Caught in the Web: Drafting Effective Acceptable Use Policies,” Missouri Association of Rural Educators, May 2011

  • Recent Developments in the Law of “Arising Out of and In the Course of Employment”, St. Louis Bar Journal, Fall 2002

  • Understanding (and Avoiding) Liability for Work-Related Injuries—Missouri’s “Last Exposure Rule” and Its Exceptions, Horizons, Human Resources Management Association of Greater St. Louis, September 2003

  • Emotional Damages for Harassment: The Interplay of Title VII, the Missouri Human Rights Act and the Missouri Workers’ Compensation Act, Horizons, Human Resources Management Association of Greater St. Louis, January 2004

  • Boys Will Be Boys: Same-Sex Harassment in the Missouri Workplace Horizons, Human Resources Management Association of Greater St. Louis, February 2004

  • When Roughhousing Becomes Illegal: Same-Sex Harassment in the Missouri Workplace, Missouri Bar Law Day Supplement to the St. Louis and Kansas City Business Journals, May 2005

  • Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education, School Law: Employment Discrimination, Contributing Author, 2006

Published Opinions

  • Lavite v Dunstan, et al - US Court of Appeals for the 7th Cir., 2019

  • Kalbfleisch v. Columbia Comm. Unit Sch. Dist - Illinois Court of Appeals, 5th Dist., 2009

  • Cobden Unit School District No. 17 v. Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board - Illinois Court of Appeals, 1st Cir, 2012