Kristin Klein Wheaton

Background

About Kristin Klein Wheaton

I am an experienced Higher Education and labor/employment counsel who defends the interests of SUNY Western Campuses. My wide-ranging experience includes public sector and municipal defense and counseling, higher education law, labor and employee relations, contract negotiations, and assisting clients with compliance strategies for state and federal laws. Over the course of my 25-year legal career, I have held a variety of positions in the public and private sectors. I am currently employed by SUNY and prior to that was a partner at Goldberg Segalla, LLP for over six years where I defended employers in the public and private sector and provided employment counseling and represented the interests of employers in Court and before administrative agencies, including, but not limited to, the EEOC, NLRB, OCR and PERB. I was also Practice Group Leader for the Higher Education Practice Group. Prior to that position, I was the Executive Vice President for Legal Affairs at a large community college in Western New York for five years, where, in reporting to its president, managed a team of 20 professionals across a range of departments. I coordinated and represented the school in all of its legal matters, as well as union matters, including grievances, arbitration, negotiations and labor management meetings, tort and employment litigation, administrative proceedings, and more. I also instituted monthly labor management meetings and reduced grievances by more than 50 percent over my tenure — including a two-year period with no grievances from one of its four unions, and only three grievances total that went to arbitration. I also spent several years in the Erie County Attorney’s Office, as an Assistant County Attorney, a First Assistant County Attorney, and the Acting County Attorney. Among other duties, I frequently appeared before the New York State Public Employment Relations Board, negotiated settlements with unions on employment issues, represented the county and its employees before a variety of state and federal courts, administrative agencies, and acted as in-house counsel for Erie County Commissioners. I also have extensive experience handling municipal litigation, including civil rights and First Amendment claims, negligence claims, and Article 78 proceedings. In 2015, I was named one of Western New York’s Legal Elite by Buffalo Business First and the Buffalo Law Journal. I have been ranked in Band 2 by Chambers for Labor and Employment Law the last two years and rated as a Best Lawyer in Labor and Employment the past several years.