Christopher’s practice focuses on labor and employment law, and his expertise includes representing employers in a union environment, including labor negotiations, changes to existing terms and conditions of employment and/or the effects of those changes, and the meaning and application of labor contract provisions. He also serves as trusted counsel to employers regarding workplace investigations, employee discipline, due process, grievance procedure issues, reasonable accommodation/interactive process issues, and other labor and employment lawmatters.
Prior to entering private practice, Christopher spent over a decade as a seasoned human resources executive with a broad spectrum of industry experience, including municipalities, public utilities, aviation, maritime, special districts, school districts, as well as higher education.
Most notably, Christopher served as the Port of Oakland's Director of Human Resources from 2014 to 2018, where he directed the Port's human resources, labor relations, benefits, equal employment opportunity, leaves management and disability compliance, occupational health and safety, and workers'compensation functions. Christopheralso led two successful negotiations for successor memoranda of understanding with the Port’s labor unions during this time.
In recognition of his accomplishments, Christopherwas featured as one of 2016’snational “Top Five Rising Stars” by Human Resource Executivemagazine. His clients greatly value his extensive practical human resources and labornegotiations experience, in addition to his legal skills.
Workplace Investigations
As an experienced workplace investigator,Christopherhas conducted investigationsrelated to workplace misconduct, sexual harassment, race discrimination, retaliation,sexual orientation harassment, theft, fraud, favoritism, misconduct, and abusiveconduct.Christophercompleted extensive training from the Association of WorkplaceInvestigators and passed the rigorous examination to earn the Certificate Holder (AWI-CH) credential, in addition to serving as part-time faculty for the Association's TrainingInstitute for Workplace Investigators.
Mediation
In addition to his advocacy skills, Christopherhas completed successfully the requisite training to serve as a mediator in compliance with Sections 466-471.5 of the Business and Professions Code. Christopher has successfully utilized his mediation training to achieve settlements on labor and employment matters.
Training
A highly sought-after trainer with a broad spectrum of public sector and industry experiences, Christopher has provided training and keynote speaking engagements on a variety of labor and employment law topics including labor relations, collective bargaining, workplace investigations, required sexualharassment/abusive conduct training, leaves of absence, disability accommodation and the interactive process, employee misconduct and discipline, the legalization of recreational marijuana and its impact to employers, violence in the workplace, workers’ compensation fraud, and unconscious bias.
Published Articles
Christopher has written articles on topics such as workplace bullying, the legalization of recreational marijuana and its impact to the workplace, and general labor andemployment law updates, which have been published by professional organizations throughout California.
Education
Christopher was graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley. He received his legal education from the Abraham Lincoln University School of Law where he was also a member of Delta Theta Phi, graduating cum laude. In addition, he received a professional certificate from Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations, and attended the Harvard Negotiation Institute at Harvard Law School. Professional Affiliations Christopher is a member of the State Bar of California and a member of the Labor and Employment Law Section of the California Lawyers Association. He also holds memberships to the Alameda County Bar Association, the Association of Workplace Investigators, and the Society for Human Resource Management.
Contact Info:
(510) 838-1000
info@Boucher.Law