Kimberly Harding

Practice Areas

Kim Harding is an attorney in Nixon Peabody’s Labor & Employment group and the leader of the firm’s Labor Relations team. Kim’s experience as a manager of Nixon Peabody’s own team of litigation attorneys informs the counsel she provides her clients and gives her unique insight into the challenges they face in managing their own workforces. She is a go-to resource for employers when they have problems with, or affecting, their “people.”

Kim’s exceptional legal service has been recognized by her clients and peers alike. She was selected, through a peer-review survey, for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® in the fields of Labor Law–Management and Litigation–Labor and Employment in both 2021 and 2022, and she was named as one of Western New York’s power players in the legal industry on the Daily Record’s Power 20 List for Litigation. Her exceptional standing in the legal community was similarly recognized in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business for Labor & Employment (New York (Upstate)) in the 2021 and 2022 editions, and as an “Up and Coming” lawyer in the same fields in the 2020 edition Kim also was selected to the 2019 Super Lawyers, Upstate New York Rising Stars list in the area of Employment and Labor, and was recognized by the Daily Record as a 2017 Excellence in Law, Up & Coming Attorneys honoree.

EMPLOYMENT COUNSELING

I routinely work with clients to help them implement decisions, policies, and strategies pertaining to their employees. My advice is grounded not only in the avoidance of legal risk, but also an understanding of the implication each decision will have on the broader workforce. I firmly believe that every company’s most important asset is its people, and that effective people management drives the most impressive delivery of customer service and, in turn, the strongest business results for my clients.

EMPLOYMENT LITIGATION

Whether it’s a disgruntled employee, or the classic “good deed” for an employee that results in the proverbial punishment, I zealously defend employers in state and federal courts and before state and federal administrative agencies from claims alleging violations of employment statutes, such as the Fair Labor Standards Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, and their state-law corollaries. I also strategically maximize any available leverage in negotiations to achieve favorable settlements of wage and hour suits, including putative class and collective actions, discrimination and whistleblower claims, and litigation of non-compete covenants, at the most appropriate earliest stage of litigation.

LABOR RELATIONS

I counsel unionized employers with respect to the development of bargaining strategies and the cost and negotiation of labor agreements. In doing so, I am always cognizant of the fact that the development of a labor relationship is a full-time job that requires attention, careful planning and deliberate actions. I am committed to understanding my clients’ workplaces and needs to ensure that we avoid piecemeal approaches to labor relations, which tend to be both shortsighted and ineffective.

My labor relations practice also involves advising on anti-organizing campaigns and strategies, and representing management in the arbitration of labor disputes and in litigation of claims under the National Labor Relations Act and the Labor Management Relations Act. I have defended Section 301 claims and both prosecuted and defended unfair labor practice charges.

Organized labor is savvier than ever, and is particularly attuned to employers’ traditional anti-union strategies. Their effective use of social media, and anticipation of traditional “union-busting” strategies, has made waging an anti-organizing campaign increasingly difficult for unsuspecting employers. Employers must stay vigilant and attuned to employee satisfaction and engagement to prevent any incentives to unionize in the first instance, and adopt innovative strategies.

Career

American University, Washington College of Law, J.D., summa cum laude, Order of the Coif

Syracuse University, B.A., summa cum laude

Professional Memberships

Kim serves as the regional leader for the Women’s Resource Group for Nixon Peabody’s upstate New York and Long Island offices. She also serves on the City Planning Commission for the City of Rochester, and is a member of the New York State Bar Association and the Greater Rochester Association of Women Attorneys.

Kim is a former chair of the board of trustees for the National Susan B. Anthony Museum, where she also served for six years as a trustee, vice chair, chair of the Governance Committee, and member of various committees. She was also a graduate of the Leadership Rochester Class of 2020, and formerly served as the director-at-large, programming, for the Rochester affiliate of the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association, served on the “Art of Lawyering” event committee for the Volunteer Legal Services Project of Monroe County, Inc. (VLSP), and has organized efforts to collect feminine hygiene products for the “PAD (Providing Access and Dignity)” Project of Rochester.

Personal

American University, Washington College of Law, J.D., summa cum laude, Order of the Coif

Syracuse University, B.A., summa cum laude