Sara Faulman joined McGillivary Steele Elkin LLP in October 2007 to uphold and strengthen the rights of unions and employees in cases brought under the First Amendment, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and state wage and hour laws.
In this capacity, Sara has represented thousands of employees who are seeking to be paid what they are legally owed, including home health aides, federal security guards, and fire Captains. Most recently, Sara served as second chair in a three-week federal jury trial on behalf of thousands of EMTs and Paramedics, whom the jury found were entitled to pay for their pre-shift and post-shift uncompensated work. Sara has also successfully represented union leaders who have been fired or otherwise discriminated against because of their protected union activities. Her advocacy in these matters have resulted in termination reversals as well as the payment of hundreds of thousands of dollars of back-pay damages.
She provides advice and guidance to union officials regarding all manner of labor-management relations matters, including negotiation of collective bargaining agreements, processing of grievances and administrative appeals, and applicability of state and federal laws to bargaining unit members.
Sara also regularly represents individual employees in a wide-range of employment action, including before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, arbitration, mediation, and in federal court. In addition, Sara has developed a practice as a highly regarded and trustworthy strategic counselor and problem-solver for her client, assisting them with job transitions, negotiating severance and employment agreements, and other related matters.
As the Union Co-Chair of the ABA’s Subcommittee on the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Sara also regularly represents workers and unions in issues arising under the FMLA and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Two recent examples include a successful appeal on behalf of a female police officer who was harassed and bullied when she requested to use FMLA leave, and a Walmart employee who was fired after using her FMLA leave to care for her ill daughter.
Prior to joining McGillivary Steele Elkin LLP, Sara represented plaintiffs in civil rights cases for the law firm of Terris, Pravlik & Millian, in Washington, D.C. There, she worked on a number of class actions, including one on behalf of Medicaid recipients in the District of Columbia and women who successfully challenged the hiring, promotion and assignment practices of the U.S. State Department. In law school, Sara volunteered as a student attorney representing farm workers for the Advocates for Basic Legal Equality in Ohio, where she visited migrant farms throughout Ohio to ensure that the workers were receiving the pay to which they were promised and entitled. Sara also volunteered for the Legal Resources Centre in South Africa and the Legal Aid of Cambodia.
Today Sara is an active member in the Legal Network for Gender Equity and the TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund. In that capacity, she hopes to continue her advocacy work on behalf of female employees throughout the United States.
Sara earned her law degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 2004, where she was an Associate Editor and Membership Coordinator for the Michigan Journal of Gender and Law and co-President of the Law Students for Reproductive Choice. Sara graduated cum laude from Kalamazoo College in 2001, where she volunteered at a local elementary school and in adult literacy programs.
