Norman Cavanaugh

Norman Cavanaugh leads the firm's Labor & Employment practice. He represents Connecticut employers in discrimination litigation, union matters, and workplace investigations, and counsels management on the day-to-day questions that keep an HR department awake — reduction-in-force planning, leave administration under the CFMLA and FMLA, wage-and-hour compliance, and investigations into executive misconduct. When a matter goes to the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities or to federal court, he takes the lead himself. His clients are concentrated in the manufacturing, insurance-services, and healthcare sectors, though the L&E practice at this firm has always been broader than any single industry. Cavanaugh earned his J.D. from UConn School of Law in 1998 and his B.A. from Providence College in 1995. Before joining Oak, Elm & Birch in 2004, he served for six years as a trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage & Hour Division, where he prosecuted multi-plaintiff FLSA enforcement actions and coordinated with the Solicitor's Office on appellate matters. That experience continues to inform how he defends wage-and-hour cases today. He knows what the Department's investigators actually look for. He knows which theories the Solicitor's Office will pursue on appeal and which they will quietly abandon. And he keeps that perspective close when advising clients on exemption classification, timekeeping, and the other compliance decisions that show up later as enforcement subpoenas. He made partner at the firm in 2010 and took over as practice group head in 2017. He has been recognized as a Connecticut Super Lawyer every year since 2012, named to *Best Lawyers in America* for Labor & Employment Law (Management) beginning in 2019, and listed in *Chambers USA* for Connecticut Labor & Employment since 2020. Within the firm he supervises two associates and collaborates closely with the HR Director and Managing Partner on the firm's own internal employment matters. ## Representative Matters - Lead counsel for a Waterbury-area manufacturer in a multi-plaintiff CFEPA disability discrimination action before the Hon. Sarala V. Nagala, D. Conn.; obtained summary judgment on five of seven claims and negotiated resolution of remaining claims, 2023. - Represented Bristol Valve & Fitting Corp. in a union decertification petition before Region 34 of the NLRB, including underlying unfair labor practice defense, 2021. - Conducted internal investigation for the board of a Connecticut healthcare nonprofit into allegations of executive misconduct; coordinated with outside audit counsel and reported findings to the full board, 2022. - Defended a Connecticut insurance services employer in a CHRO retaliation matter that proceeded to a public hearing; obtained dismissal on the merits, 2024. ## Publications - "The Connecticut Paid FMLA Rollout: Two Years of Employer Lessons," *Connecticut Bar Journal*, Vol. 96 (2022). - Quoted contributor, *Hartford Business Journal* coverage of CHRO enforcement trends, 2021 and 2023. - "Exempt Classification After the 2024 Salary Threshold Rule: What Connecticut Employers Should Actually Do," *Connecticut Employment Law Quarterly*, Summer 2024. ## Speaking & CLE - Annual presenter, "Connecticut Employment Law Update," CBA Labor & Employment Section, 2017–present. - Panelist, "Workplace Investigations in the Post-#MeToo Era: What Boards Now Expect," Hartford County Bar Association CLE, November 2023. - Faculty, "Wage & Hour Compliance for the Connecticut Manufacturer," CBIA annual HR conference, recurring 2019–present. Cavanaugh is admitted in Connecticut. He chairs the firm's Pro Bono Committee and personally handles CHRO matters for referrals from the Connecticut Veterans Legal Center.