Danielle Franco-Malone

Danielle is a partner in the Firm of Barnard Iglitzin & Lavitt LLP. She considers herself inestimably lucky to fight every day to improve the lives of working people. She devotes her practice to representing public- and private-sector union clients, and nonprofit organizations in all aspects of litigation in state and federal court, arbitrations, administrative proceedings, and day-to-day strategic advice. Danielle's practice also includes advising unions and nonprofits on campaign finance and tax issues, such as compliance with IRS, Federal Election Commission, and Public Disclosure Commission requirements.

Much of Danielle's practice focuses on advising unions in their efforts to organize groups of workers, to successfully negotiate collective bargaining agreements, and to enforce workers' rights under those agreements. She frequently serves as chief spokesperson in collective bargaining negotiations. She also often represents clients in grievance arbitrations, interest arbitrations, proceedings before the NLRB and PERC, and in state and federal court. In addition, Danielle handles appellate work for her clients and has successfully argued before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Before joining the firm, Danielle served as legislative counsel for Alliance for Justice in Washington, D.C., where she advocated for the appointment of more progressive federal judges through AFJ's Judicial Selection Project. Danielle has also served as the statewide political director for Washington's Death With Dignity ballot initiative, clerked for Legal Voice (formerly the Northwest Women's Law Center), and worked as an organizer for NARAL Pro-Choice Washington.

Danielle graduated from the University of Washington, where she earned her J.D. and Bachelor's degrees. While in law school, she served as president of Law Students for Reproductive Justice and was involved in groups such as the ACLU, the Law Women's Caucus, the Unemployment Compensation Clinic, and the Pacific Rim Law and Policy Journal.

When she is not working, Danielle enjoys spending time with her two young children, husband, and dog. When she has time to herself, she enjoys reading, cooking, and running.

Representative Work:

• MultiCare v. WSNA (9th Circuit, 2018): Court of Appeals confirmed arbitration award that ordered hospital to cease using the so-called "break buddy" system and to instead staff break relief nurses throughout the entire hospital.
• Teamsters 117 v. DOC (Interest Arbitration, 2018): Following 8-day interest arbitration, obtained award providing for between 8-13% wage increase over two years for every employee in the unit, as well as other favorable contract language changes.
• WPEA v. Pierce College (Arbitration, 2017): Obtained reinstatement of an employee who had been laid off, resulting in an interpretation of the contract that limited employer's ability to lay off employees.
• WSNA v. MultiCare (NLRB, 2016): Successfully advocated for unfair labor practice complaint from Region 19 when, following contract expiration and during negotiations for a successor contract, employer unilaterally ceased providing employee bonuses. All affected employees received the bonuses that had been withheld.
• Planned Parenthood v. Bloedow (Court of Appeals, 2015): Successfully argued before the Court of Appeals in Public Records Act case, preventing the release of requested records.
• USW 12-590 v. Phillips 66 (NLRB, 2015): In the case involving retaliation against workers based on their union advocacy, advocated for the issuance of an unfair labor practice complaint and negotiated a large back pay award for the affected employees.
• Laborers Local 252 v. EnCon (Arbitration, 2015): Obtained an arbitration award prohibiting an employer from failing to treat employees hired through a temporary labor agency as not covered by the collective bargaining agreement.
• Teamsters Local 174 v. CleanScapes (Arbitration, 2014): Following arbitration hearing, employer ordered to reinstate employee due to its failure to strictly comply with its own drug and alcohol policy.
• First Student v. Teamsters Local 174, 359 NLRB 1090 (NLRB, 2013): Employer ordered to conduct a rerun election based on its failure to give regularly scheduled raises before representation election, resulting in a back pay award for all employees denied raises and a successful rerun election.