Photo of Thomas P. Gies

Thomas P. Gies is a founding member of Crowell & Moring's Labor & Employment Group. Tom has more than 35 years of experience in litigating employment disputes. Tom’s litigation experience includes five jury trials, two U.S. Supreme Court arguments, 18 federal appellate court arguments, and more than a hundred trial court and arbitration matters involving a wide range of labor and employment law issues, including traditional labor law, whistleblower retaliation, EEO claims and wage & hour class and collective actions. Tom also maintains an active compliance counseling practice, involving the full range of employment law issues facing U.S. employers. Tom's traditional labor counseling practice has focused on helping companies develop and implement strategies in situations involving operational restructurings, facility closures, subcontracting of bargaining unit work, and work stoppages.

Following President Biden’s announcement of Executive Order 14042 (“EO”) on September 9, 2021, several agencies have issued guidance on the EO’s applicability to the contractor community, which we reported on here.  Further to GSA’s September 30, 2021 Class Deviation CD-2021-13, on October 6, 2021, GSA reiterated that a mass modification program for all

This afternoon, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force issued its Guidance regarding COVID-19 Workplace Safety: Guidance for Federal Contractors and Subcontractors (at all tiers), pursuant to President Biden’s September 9, 2020 Executive Order.  The 14-page Guidance addresses the following topics:

  • Vaccination requirement.  The Guidance mandates vaccinations, with exceptions only for those employees legally

On July 29, 2021, President Biden announced certain actions to “get more people vaccinated.”  The White House announced that “every federal government employee and onsite contractor will be asked to attest to their vaccination status. Anyone who does not attest to being fully vaccinated will be required to wear a mask on the job no

On January 24, 2021, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memo which provides guidance to federal agencies on maintaining a safe federal workplace during the COVID-19 pandemic. This memo instructs federal agencies to require face masks and social distancing in all Federal buildings, as directed by President Biden’s Executive Order (EO) on 

On January 7, 2021, Ms. Ellen M. Lord, on behalf of the Department of Defense (DoD) Office of the Undersecretary of Defense, issued a memorandum for the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) regarding the DoD COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation and Distribution Policy. This memo, along with the attached DoD guidance documents, the “Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccine Guidance”

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued interim guidance for enforcing the recording of occupational illnesses requirements, specifically for cases of coronavirus (COVID-19). This guidance rescinds OSHA’s earlier guidance providing for enforcement discretion on COVID-19 complaints arising outside of healthcare or emergency response employers. As of May 26, 2020, and until further notice, OSHA

With the coronavirus disrupting business in parts of Asia and with increasing impacts in the United States, government contractors should prepare for the potential issues that may result if the virus spreads across the United States and across other countries where U.S. government contracts are performed. In addition to being proactive and mindful of health