Christie M. Hayes has been named the managing shareholder of Baker Donelson's Tri-Cities office in Johnson City.
While serving as office managing shareholder, Ms. Hayes will maintain her legal practice, which is focused on representing employers and management in a broad range of employment law issues, and partnering with clients to defend cases under a multitude of federal and state discrimination and harassment laws, workers' compensation, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the Defense Base Act.
Ms. Hayes routinely advises clients facing complex employment law issues involving discipline and terminations, leave, disability accommodation, policy creation and enforcement, drug-free workplace, and similar matters. Licensed in both Tennessee and North Carolina, she regularly assists clients with internal as well as state and federal investigations involving harassment and discrimination and pro-active training and policy development.
As a litigator, Ms. Hayes has significant experience before various administrative agencies, including the Department of Labor, Tennessee Court of Workers' Compensation, North Carolina Industrial Commission, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and Tennessee Human Rights Commission. A regular practitioner in the Court of Workers' Compensation, she handles high-exposure complex occupational exposure and death cases, and routinely advises clients on the interaction between workers' compensation, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In addition to her labor and employment practice, Ms. Hayes is a skilled litigator involved in the extensive representation of real estate companies in the defense of breach of contract and misrepresentation cases. She also works with financial and credit institutions, banks, and commercial equipment creditors with loan recovery matters, including collection actions and workout strategies.
A member of the American, Tennessee and Washington County Bar Associations, Ms. Hayes has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America® since 2018 and in Mid-South Super Lawyers since 2013. She has also earned recognition for her pro bono work, including being named Pro Bono Attorney of the Year by Legal Aid of East Tennessee, which has also recognized her as an Honor Roll Recipient on multiple occasions. Ms. Hayes was named Baker Donelson's Tri-Cities Pro Bono Attorney of the Year in both 2020 and 2011.