We are a labor law firm proud to support organized labor and workers in the Pacific Northwest and beyond

Shortly after graduating law school in 2004, Sarah began working as an Associate attorney for Michael Tedesco. Together, they established Tedesco Law Group. Today, Sarah is an equity partner at the firm and has served as the firm’s Managing Partner for many years.

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Sarah provides daily counsel to labor organizations and specializes in resolving labor disputes before labor arbitrators, the Oregon Employment Relations Board, and the National Labor Relations Board. She has successfully tried dozens of cases on behalf of labor unions, including many discipline cases, achieving reinstatement and back pay for wrongfully discharged employees.

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As an experienced negotiator, Sarah leads her clients through difficult contract negotiations and handles both the mediation and arbitration processes. She helps clients file and process grievances and strives to find workable solutions to labor disputes. Because she firmly believes that labor relations are built on positive working relationships, Sarah helps employers and unions establish positive communication, maintain professionalism, and problem solve. She is highly regarded for obtaining favorable outcomes for her clients without the need for costly litigation.

 

Sarah regularly appears before the Oregon appellate courts and the Oregon Legislature as an advocate for labor organizations. She has spent several years working to preserve and improve laws restricting public employers in Oregon from subcontracting family wage jobs.

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She is the Past Chair of the Oregon State Bar's Labor & Employment Section Executive Committee and frequently speaks at labor relations conferences, including those hosted by the Oregon State Fire Fighters Council (OSFFC), Oregon’s Labor Employment Research Center (LERC), Oregon State Bar’s Labor & Employment Boot Camp, and the Labor and Employment Relations Association (LERA). She is recognized nationally as a Super Lawyer.

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Sarah was born and raised in Southern Oregon and is a proud “Double Duck,” having earned her undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Oregon.

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Professional Associations

• Labor & Employment Section, Oregon State Bar Association (Served as Chair in 2016; Chair-Elect in 2015; Treasurer in 2014)

• Union Lawyers Alliance

• Oregon State Bar Association Labor & Employment Section

• Washington State Bar Association Labor & Employment Section

• Oregon Labor and Employment Relations Association

• Super Lawyers

 

Education

• University of Oregon, J.D., 2004

• University of Oregon, B.A., 2000

• Wellesley College, 1997-1999

 

Admissions

• Oregon

• Washington

• U.S. District Courts for the District of Oregon

• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

 

Trainings

• Recognizing and Preventing Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

• Oregon Paid Family Medical Leave

• Social Media and the Workplace

• NLRA Nuts and Bolts

• First Amendment Rights of Public Employees

• Union Steward Training 101

• Oregon’s Public Employee Collective Bargaining Act

• The Americans with Disabilities Act

• Bargaining in the Private Sector

• House Bill 2016 Rights for Public Employees in Oregon

• Understanding Unfair Labor Practices

 

Representative Cases

• Lane Community College Education Assoc. v. Lane Community College Bd. Of Education (Bonney, 2022). Successfully challenged College’s failure to pay faculty for instructional hours, resulting in back pay for faculty.

 

• Hicks v. Central Point School District and First Student, Inc., 270 Or. App. 532, 348 P.3d 307 (2015), rev. den. 357 Or. 743 (2015). Successfully challenged school district’s non-compliance with public contracting code when outsourcing public school transportation services to private company.

 

• Moro v. State of Oregon et al., 357 Or. 167, 351 P.3d 1 (2015). Filed brief for amicus curiae International Association of Fire Fighters in lawsuit that successfully challenged legislation reducing retirement benefits.

 

• OSEA v. Clatskanie School District (Arbitrator Joseph W. Duffy, 2015). Successfully challenged school district’s change in calculation of employee contributions toward health insurance premiums, resulting in decision requiring district to reimburse employees.

 

• International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 3564 v. City of Grants Pass, 262 Or. App. 657 (2014). Successfully challenged city’s failure to comply with overtime laws for fire fighters.

 

• Oregon School Employees Association v. Parkrose School District, 25 PECBR 783, UP-030-12 (2013). Successfully challenged school district’s unilateral implementation of furlough days without bargaining and obtained order requiring district to restore lost wages and benefits to furloughed employees.

 

• Hydro-Temp Mechanical, Inc. and Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers, Local 16, 19-RC-114979 (2013). Successfully defended petition filed with National Labor Relations Board to organize sheet metal workers after employer objected to composition of bargaining unit, resulting in election in favor of union representation.