Krista L. Duncan

Krista L. DuncanDinsmore & Shohl LLP
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Krista L. Duncan
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Krista Duncan is a member of the Labor and Employment Law Department.Her practice is concentrated in helping employers avoid and defend employment and labor litigation.Krista has trained employees and supervisors in matters such as complying with equal employment opportunity laws, avoiding claims of harassment and retaliation, dealing with difficult employees, and preparing to give testimony.She also has experience drafting employment policies and advising employers regarding disciplinary matters.Krista defends employers in forums such as state and federal court, the National Labor Relations Board, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the West Virginia Human Rights Commission.

Dinsmore & Shohl Hires Associate Krista L. Duncan

Dinsmore & Shohl Hires Associate Krista L. Duncan Dinsmore & Shohl LLP | News & Events | Dinsmore & Shohl Hires Associate Krista L. Duncan
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Dinsmore & Shohl Hires Associate Krista L. Duncan
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Krista L. Duncan has joined Dinsmore & Shohl LLP as an associate in the Labor and Employment Law Department. Duncan will be moving from the West Virginia Division of Highways to Dinsmore and Shohl's Charleston office. Duncan previously served as an attorney for the Commissioner of the West Virginia Division of Highways, with particular emphasis on administrative and employment law issues.

Duncan received her J.D. from the Indiana University School of Law in Bloomington (1996) and her B.A. from Marshall University (1990).

Krista Duncan, an attorney for the Division of Highways, said her agency is very concerned about the costs of the grievance process, but it,s difficult to determine fully what all those costs are in an agency with more than 5,000 employees.

,It,s not simple anymore,, Brown said. ,It has turned into a legal quagmire.,

It,s not uncommon for school boards to send lawyers to Level II hearings, he said.
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Krista Duncan, an attorney for the Division of Highways, said her agency is very concerned about the costs of the grievance process, but it,s difficult to determine fully what all those costs are in an agency with more than 5,000 employees.She said some people have issued subpoenas for issues ,that should not be adjudicated., Employee down time is the biggest cost of the process, she said.
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But Duncan said attorneys are used in a ,informal, way at Level II hearings.The division always has lawyers present at Level III and Level IV hearings, she said.

Saving on lawyers, fees is less of a concern for Highways, Duncan said, because her agency has its own attorneys dedicated to grievance issues and she believes they save the agency ,a lot of soft costs., She objected to any move to ,remove key players,, such as attorneys, from the lower levels of the process because it could ,remove the opportunity for the agency to save money in the long run.,

A comparison of several state agencies, grievance board data for calendar year 2005 shows that the grievance process cost the Division of Highways, $718,195.That included 409 Level III grievances and 84 Level IV grievances, plus three that went to court.The next highest cost, $476,966, was for the Department of Health and Human Resources, which had 563 Level III and 52 Level IV grievances, plus five that went to court.

There is a proposal to establish a central state office to handle grievances for many agencies, but Duncan said an agency the size of the Division of Highways is better off having a separate personnel unit.She suggested that such a centralized office might be better for smaller agencies.

Bowman said having a centralized personnel process would provide more consistency, but Duncan wondered if that would work so well in practice as it seems to in theory.
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Duncan said having someone in each district to help resolve conflicts at lower levels could also be helpful, but she,s not sure who that would be.