Roxana Underwood is a Partner, representing employers in traditional labor and employment law matters. Her labor relations practice includes workplace counseling, negotiating collective bargaining agreements, litigating grievance and interest arbitration matters, and handling unfair labor practice and union representation matters before the National Labor Relations Board, the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board, and the Illinois Labor Relations Board.
Roxana serves as the General Counsel to the Illinois Public Employer Labor Relations Association (IPELRA), which is the State's largest public employer labor relations association for management officials.
Roxana also counsels and defends employers with non-union workplace issues. She advises and represents clients in matters arising under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the ADEA, the ADA, the FMLA, the Illinois Human Rights Act, USERRA, the FLSA, as well as under the Administrative Review Act, among others. Roxana is also regularly called upon to conduct neutral workplace investigations on behalf of employers in various industries, as well as FLSA related wage and hour audits. In addition, Roxana conducts workplace training programs for employers, including prevention of workplace harassment, discrimination, and retaliation, as well as personnel policy and collective bargaining administration training.
Roxana is the Employer Chair of the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Labor and Employment Law's State and Local Government Bargaining and Employment Law Committee. Roxana is also the Employer Chair of the ABA's Law Student Trial Advocacy Competition. Roxana is a graduate of the ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law's Leadership Development Program.
Roxana has authored and contributed to numerous legal treatises and articles. She is a contributing editor to The Developing Labor Law (BNA) and to the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education (IICLE) chapter on Employment Discrimination and Sexual Harassment and Discrimination. Roxana has also authored a chapter on the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution in the Municipal Law Deskbook published by the ABA, as well as Much Smarter Bargaining, published by the National Public Employer Labor Relations Association (NPELRA).
Roxana has been selected to the Illinois Rising Stars list from 2017 through 2023, which recognizes no more than 2.5 percent of the attorneys in each state. Roxana has also been selected by her Leading Lawyer peers as a "Emerging Lawyer" in the categories of Employment Law (Management) and Labor Law (Management) from 2018 through 2023. This distinction has been earned by fewer than 2 percent of all lawyers licensed to practice law in Illinois.
Roxana is an active member of the Ravinia Associates Board, and serves as its Vice President.
J.D., Chicago-Kent College of Law
B.S., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Admissions:
- Illinois
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Author - Post Pandemic Remote Work Arrangements - Various Labor and Employment Considerations, forthcoming publication by the National Public Employer Labor Relations Association (December 2021)
Speaker - Your Rights as a Supervisor & Their Rights as Employees, Illinois Pubic Service Institute (October 2021)
Presenter - First Amendment Issue for Public Employees: Political Speech or Problem Makers, American Bar Association 2021 Midwinter Meeting for the State and Local Bargaining and Employment Law Committee (January 2021 - Virtual)
Presenter - Public Records & Public Employees, American Bar Association Section of Labor and Employment 14th Annual Section Conference (November 2020 - Virtual)
Author - The Intersection of Police Discipline Reform and Collective Bargaining, publication by the National Public Employer Labor Relations Association (October 2020)
Author - Employment Losses Without WARNINing , American Bar Association Section of Labor and Employment Law, Summer 2020, Volume 48, Number 4
Panelist - Janus Revisited: A discussion of the Far-Reaching Implications for Public Sector - and Perhaps Even Private Sector - Unions and Employers, American Bar Association (September 2020 - Virtual)
Panelist - What Arbitrators Wish You Knew: Ethical Problems in Arbitration, FMCS National Labor-Management Conference (August 2020 - Virtual)
Presenter - Bargaining During A Financial Financial Crisis, Illinois Public Employers Labor Relations Association (May 2020 - Virtual)
Presenter - Employee Misconduct Issues Unique to the Public Sector, Employment Law Seminar for the Illinois Public Employers Labor Relations Association (March 2020)
Underwood, Roxana M., Vol. 35, No. 4 (2018), Managing Public Employee Speech In The Age Of Social Media - Instituting Policies Regulating Public Employee Conduct While Balancing Access to the "Democratic Forums of the Internet. " The Illinois Public Employee Relations Report. 107
Co-Author - Employment Discrimination: Unlawful Grounds and Prevention, IICLE 2019 Edition
Panelist - Developments in Interest Arbitration, Chicago-Kent's 34th Annual Illinois Public Sector Labor Relations Law Conference (November 2018)
Panel Moderator - Legal Issues Facing Today’s Labor & Employment Corporate Counsel, Chicago Bar Association, Young Lawyers Section (May 2018)
Presenter - Key Advanced Collective Bargaining Issues, Employment Law Seminar for the Illinois Public Employers Labor Relations Association (March 2018)
Author - Cross-Border Populism: The Implications of Brexit and Donald Trump’s Presidency on Labor and Employment , American Bar Association Section of Labor and Employment Law, Winter 2018, Volume 46, Number 2
Panel Presenter at the 11th Annual ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law Conference, in Washington D.C. on Public Employee Free Speech Post-Garcetti (November 2017)
Co-Author - Much Smarter Bargaining, Illinois Public Employers Labor Relations Association (March 2017)
Presenter - Navigating FLSA Overtime, Illinois Public Employers Labor Relations Association (November 2016)
Presenter - A Beginner’s Guide to Collective Bargaining Negotiations, Illinois Association of Municipal Management Assistants (March 2015).
Free Speech and Privacy Rights Considerations for Employers, Law Enforcement Records Managers of Illinois (April 2014).
Author – “Public Sector Employment and Legalized Marijuana is Not an Oxymoron: A brief review of the legal landscape and employment related considerations that public employers face as marijuana moves toward state-wide legalization” published by the National Public Employer Labor Relations Association (March/April 2015)
Author – “The EEOC Pushes the Boundaries of Employer Obligations to Pregnant Employees” published by the National Public Employer Labor Relations Association (September 2014)
Co-author – “Fair Share Fees in the Public Sector – Are the Tides Turning?” published by the National Public Employer Labor Relations Association (November 2013)
Co-author – “Rare Job Tasks Under the ADA – Is Responding to Infrequent Emergency Situations an Essential Job Function?” published by the National Public Employer Labor Relations Association (August 2013)
Co-author – “EEOC’s Recent Pursuit of Genetic Information Discrimination Violations” published by the National Public Employer Labor Relations Association (June 2013)
Co-author – “Who has Supervisory Power: The Supreme Court Weighs in” published by the National Public Employer Labor Relations Association (December 2012/January 2013)
Clark Baird Smith LLP | All Rights Reserved |
Created by Olive + Ash.
Managed by Olive Street Design. 