Contact Information
Phone: (503) 384-2070
Fax: (503) 894-5022
E-Mail: gene@mechaniclaw.com
Admitted to Practice
Oregon State Bar;
Florida State Bar;
New York State Bar;
United States Supreme Court;
United States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Sixth, and Ninth Circuits;
United States District Courts for the District of Oregon, District of Colorado, Eastern, Western, and Southern Districts of New York, Southern District of Florida
Education
George Washington University Law School (J.D.)
University of Rochester (B.A.)
Professional/Volunteer Activities
Fellow, College of Labor and Employment Lawyers
Member, Board of Directors, AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee, 2002-2005
Chairperson, Oregon State Bar Labor and Employment Law Section, 1991-1992
Member, Advisory Board, AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee, 1983-1985
Member, American Bar Association
Member, Oregon Trial Lawyers Association
Member, Multnomah Bar Association
Former chairperson of Portland, Oregon
public high school advisory council
Former member of Portland, Oregon
public middle school site council
Sample Publications
Co-Author, “Labor Disputes,” Labor and Employment Law: Private Sector, Oregon State Bar, (2011 and 2004 editions)
Chapter Editor, “Handbills, Pickets & Strikes,” Developing Labor Law, American Bar Association & Bureau of National Affairs, Fourth Edition
Co-Author, Arbitration Under Oregon”s PECBA, University of Oregon, Labor Education Research Center (2003)
Author, “The Education of an American Labor Lawyer in Tunisia,” AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee Bulletin, May, 2007
Contributing Editor, Labor and Employment Law: Public Sector, Oregon State Bar (1997)
Author, “Legal Challenges to Drug Testing in the Public Sector,” Problems in the Workplace: Aids, Drug Testing, Sexual Harassment, and Smoking Restrictions, University of Oregon, Labor Education Research Center (1988)
Martindale-Hubbell Rating ©
AV
GENE MECHANICGENE MECHANIC started his legal career in New York City as a litigator with the New York State Attorney’s General Office before moving to Portland, where he has spent more than 30 years fighting for the rights of employees and other clients who seek economic justice. The Oregonian newspaper stated that Gene “has a history of legal success” and “in three decades defending Oregon workers, [he] has represented a micro-economy of employees.”
Gene has won many substantial jury verdicts, court decisions and settlements for clients in federal and state courts, both at the trial and appellate levels. He has also published numerous articles and is a frequent national and international speaker on labor and employment law, health care law and legal ethics.
Areas of Practice
Employment Law
Representation of employees in termination, retaliation, sexual or racial harassment/ discrimination, and wage claim litigation. Advises executives, media talent and other employees on contract negotiations, severance and other matters relating to their employment.
Whistleblower Litigation
Representation of individuals in whistleblower litigation exposing corporate fraud.
Labor Law
Representation of public and private sector labor unions in all aspects of labor law, including federal and state court litigation and organizing, collective bargaining and political solutions.
Health Care Law
Representation of individuals on health insurance claim denials and unions on health benefits plans, including matters relating to the new federal and state health reform laws.
Case Examples
Employer’s restriction on employees’ right to free speech held unlawful by National Labor Relations Board (2010)
$2.5 million state jury verdict and court injunction against organization run by anti-tax and anti-union advocate Bill Sizemore. Verdict and injunction upheld by the Oregon Supreme Court. (2008)
$275,000 state court judgment in wage lawsuit for cleaners at Portland Rose Garden sports arena (2007)
Multi-million dollar valued state court judgment for 30,000 Oregon retired public employees, preventing the Oregon Public Retirement Board from seeking reimbursement of alleged benefit overpayments (2007)
National Labor Relations Board ruling that employer committed unfair labor practices by restricting employee speech and changing store policies (2007)
$1.2 million federal bankruptcy court settlement for former employees of large trucking company who did not receive adequate notice of their layoffs (2005)
$315,000 federal court wage settlement for hospital employees who did not receive adequate notice of hospital closure (2004)
Confidential settlements in federal and state court lawsuits for female employees who were coercively interrogated by their employer about alleged thefts (2004)
Oregon Court of Appeals ruling that college faculty’s lawsuit to keep their early retirement plan stated valid claim, resulting in a settlement which reversed the changes. (2004)
Federal Court judgment reversing Bayer Corporation plan’s denial of long-term disability benefits to employee (2002)
National Labor Relations Board ruling that union organizers entitled to store access(2002)
National Labor Relations Board ruling that TV producers entitled to union election (1999)
$415,000 federal court jury verdict for female flaggers in sex discrimination lawsuit (1998)
Oregon federal court ruling that farm workers constitutionally entitled to picket at farms during harvest time (1990)
$600,000 federal court wage judgment for professional football players (1986)
