Robin L.S. Burroughs
Labor and Employment Litigation
Robin manages all stages of litigation in both state and federal courts, including initial investigations, discovery management, depositions, drafting and arguing pre-trial and dispositive motions, trial preparation, trial, and appeals. She also represents clients in administrative forums, including mediation, arbitration, and actions before EEOC and similar state agencies. Robin’s litigation practice focuses on defending employers in claims involving discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wage and hour disputes, and employment-related tort and contract claims, as well as enforcement actions brought by agencies such as the EEOC and NLRB. She often works with employers facing parallel administrative, regulatory, and public-relations risks and helps them develop strategies that align litigation strategy with business and workforce goals.
Robin also assists employers with investigations of workplace incidents (including harassment and discrimination complaints) and in responding to agency audits of workplace practices. She regularly conducts standalone internal investigations for employers and boards—often involving multiple witnesses, large document sets, or allegations of misconduct at senior levels—and provides clear, practical findings and recommendations.
Traditional Labor
Robin has experience negotiating collective bargaining agreements, assisting clients with statutory and contractual impasse resolution procedures, and defending employers in labor-related arbitration (including both grievance and interest arbitration). She has particular experience in the complex laws governing public-sector labor relations in Maryland and Washington, DC. Her traditional labor practice includes serving as lead or co-lead negotiator in first-contract and successor bargaining; advising management during union organizing campaigns and related NLRB proceedings; representing employers in unfair labor practice proceedings and election disputes; and counseling employers during strikes, picketing, and other concerted activity.
Labor and Employment Counseling
Robin counsels clients on compliance with relevant laws, including wage and hour laws, disability and discrimination laws, anti-retaliation laws, and leave laws. She works with clients to improve the quality and efficacy of employment-related practices, policies, and documents, including drafting or updating employment agreements, separation agreements, and workplace handbooks. Robin focuses on helping employers use counseling and compliance work strategically to reduce the likelihood of disputes, support collective bargaining and labor-relations objectives, and position clients effectively should litigation or agency charges arise.
Robin’s experience includes counseling on such regulations as the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), the DC Human Rights Act, DC Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act, DC Fair Criminal Record Screening Act, and many other federal, state, and local laws.
Educational Institutions
Robin advises educational institutions, including independent schools, public charter schools, public schools, and higher education institutions. In addition to labor and employment matters like union organizing, collective bargaining, impasse resolution, wage and hour compliance, counseling and discipline of employees and volunteers, and employment agreements, Robin also counsels educational institutions on student and family rights, policies related to state-mandated immunization requirements and permissible exemptions from those requirements, and Title IX policies and complaints. She represents these institutions in their capacity as employers and stewards of their learning communities, helping them manage employee relations while maintaining safe, inclusive educational environments.
Robin also assists educational institutions in conducting internal investigations into student and employee complaints and in navigating administrative investigations. Robin has significant experience working with education clients on policies and issues arising out of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and related state laws.
Experience
Representative Matters
- Served as labor counsel to a large public employer in negotiating its first-ever collective bargaining agreements covering multiple bargaining units and hundreds of employees under a new public-sector collective bargaining statute, from pre-election strategy through first contract ratification
- As litigation counsel, defended a non-profit organization in an EEOC Title VII race discrimination and retaliation action, securing a settlement that provided limited monetary relief and tailored injunctive terms while preserving the client’s operational flexibility
- Represented a hospitality employer in complex, multi-location NLRB proceedings arising from union organizing campaigns, including consolidated unfair labor practice charges and election challenges involving dozens of employees and multiple worksites
- Conducted a sensitive internal investigation for a primary school into a high-profile student allegation of sexual misconduct, and advised the school’s leadership on responsive measures and risk mitigation
- As trial counsel, successfully defended a medical practice in a jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland regarding overtime claims
- Assisted in conducting a large-scale investigation into potential workplace misconduct, which involved 18 witness interviews and a review of over 50,000 documents
- As first-chair counsel, successfully resolved a collective bargaining impasse between a Maryland local government and one of its unions during mandatory fact-finding; the fact finder recommended adoption of the employer’s total package, and the union decided not to further pursue statutory impasse procedures
- Drafted and argued a motion to dismiss that successfully obtained early dismissal of claims filed against a Maryland local government by one of its employee unions
- Represented a public school district in statutory impasse resolution procedures following negotiations and an impasse with its teacher’s union; assisted in reaching a collective bargaining agreement that preserved existing agreements and procedures important to the school system
- Assisted in obtaining summary judgment in a wage and hour matter for a large construction management firm, where a class of employees claimed to be third-party beneficiaries under the client’s project labor agreement
- Served as outside investigator in a campus-wide investigation for a liberal arts college regarding student allegations of discrimination and sexual misconduct under Title VI and Title IX, culminating in a thorough fact-finding report and policy-focused recommendations
- Petitioned to vacate a labor arbitration award in federal district court on behalf of a multijurisdictional government agency
- Drafted briefs for an appeal to the Fourth Circuit in a wage and hour matter where the client received a favorable decision that abrogated prior Fourth Circuit case law
Insights
Credentials
Education
- J.D. magna cum laude University of Maryland School of Law 2013
- Articles editor, Maryland Law Review
- Judicial intern, the Honorable John D. Bates of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
- Student attorney, National Association of the Deaf – represented clients in litigation arising under the Americans with Disabilities Act
- B.A. Sociology and History with honors Bucknell University 2008
Bar Admissions
- Maryland
- District of Columbia
Court Admissions
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
- U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
- U.S. Court of Federal Claims
Professional Memberships and Activities
- Former teacher, Prince George’s County Public Schools
Recognition
- The Best Lawyers in America, Ones to Watch, 2024 – 2025
- Super Lawyers, Rising Star, Washington, DC, 2022 – 2023
Community
Personal Activities
- Plays clarinet in the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra