Natale V. DiNatale is a member of our firm’s Labor, Employment, Benefits + Immigration group and is the chair of our firm’s Labor Relations group, which is both nationally and regionally ranked in U.S. News – Best Lawyers "Best Law Firms" in the area of Labor Law - Management. He counsels employers on all facets of employment law and has devoted his practice almost exclusively to management-side labor relations in the private sector. He has worked with employers in numerous industries, including health care (acute care hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, and home care service providers), manufacturing, higher education, data, cultural, arts, utility, and building services.
Collective Bargaining
Natale represents employers in collective bargaining; he has negotiated initial and successor contracts with various unions in a range of industries. He assists employers with complex issues arising in contract negotiations, including strikes, lockouts, management rights, contracting, benefits, and the termination and modification of retirement and benefit plans. Natale prioritizes learning about an employer's operations so that their labor relations strategies coincide with operational objectives. Natale’s efforts on behalf of employers have resulted in clients saving millions of dollars through changes to pension plans, health insurance benefits, overtime language, and management rights provisions.
Labor Litigation
Natale handles a range of labor-related disputes in proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and in state and federal courts. He has handled numerous petitions before the NLRB, including representation petitions, decertification petitions, deauthorization petitions and unit clarification petitions. He also represents clients in unfair labor practice proceedings, grievance resolution, and arbitration, where he has achieved positive results for employers in both termination and contract interpretation cases.
Labor + Employment Counseling
Natale advises clients on a host of labor and employment issues, including union avoidance, union election campaigns, successor employer issues, joint employer issues, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and other state and federal labor and employment laws. He also counsels clients on labor and employment issues arising in mergers, acquisitions, affiliations, and bankruptcy.
Workplace Investigations
As an Association of Workplace Investigators Certificate Holder, Natale is a trained workplace investigator, and regularly manages and provides advice regarding workplace investigations involving all types of employment-related issues, including those occurring in union workplaces.
Natale has been a contributing editor to The Developing Labor Law for over a decade. Prior to joining Robinson+Cole, Natale was associated with a Bridgeport-based labor and employment law firm. Before that, he clerked for the Honorable Francis X. Hennessy of the Connecticut Appellate Court.
