Steven D. Wheeless

Partner

• swheeless@steptoe.com
• vCard
• Phoenix Office

Steve Wheeless is a Steptoe & Johnson LLP partner based in the Phoenix office.  He represents management in labor relations and employment matters.  He also represents commercial clients in business litigation.  Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Wheeless was an F-16 Instructor Pilot, a Diplomatic Exchange Officer to the Royal Danish Air Force, and a Program Manager in the Intelligence Industry.

Primary Areas of Practice
Mr. Wheeless represents employers in all aspects of labor relations, including union avoidance planning, training, and organizing campaigns; NLRB representation hearings and unfair labor practice proceedings; labor-related RICO actions; and collective bargaining, contract interpretation, and grievance arbitrations.  Mr. Wheeless appeared as lead trial and appellate counsel in Flagstaff Medical Center, 2009 WL 1405151 (NLRB Div. of Judges 2009) (rejecting unions' joint employer, subcontracting, and all discrimination claims filed against employer during unions' multi-year corporate campaign), Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 351 NLRB No. 103 (2008), Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 339 NLRB No. 153 (2003) (establishing an employer’s right to lawfully place visiting, high-ranking managers in a facility experiencing union organizing without creating an inherent and unlawful solicitation of grievances), and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 349 NLRB No. 102 (2007) (granting employers the right to exclude non-employee union organizers from common-use areas based on a leasehold interest).  Mr. Wheeless also appeared as lead appellate counsel in UFCW, Int’l. v. NLRB, 519 F.3d 490 (D.C. Cir. 2008) (affirming that union’s petitioned-for unit was inappropriate after the employer unilaterally changed employee job duties).

Mr. Wheeless represents employers responding to employment-related charges and lawsuits.  He was lead trial and appellate counsel in Tempesta v. Motorola, Inc., 21 Fed. Appx. 700 (9^th Cir. 2001) (affirming the grant of summary judgment on race claims challenging the employer’s system-wide reduction-in-force policy).  He was also lead trial counsel and co-counsel on appeal in Osuna v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 214 Ariz. 286 (Ct. App. 2007) (affirming denial of class certification and dismissal of wage-and-hour class claims by putative class of 50,000 current and former employees).  He regularly counsels employers and appears before government investigating agencies regarding employee termination and discipline decisions, sexual harassment claims, wage and hour issues, employment contracts and restrictive covenants, and other Human Resources matters. 

Mr. Wheeless also represents businesses in state and federal court at the trial and appellate level in complex commercial litigation involving contract, partnership, and financial disputes.  See, e.g., State ex. rel. Goddard v. Western Union Financial Serv., 216 Ariz. 361 (Ct. App. 2007).

• Super Lawyers Corporate Counsel Edition 2008 for Labor & Employment
• Southwest Super Lawyers 2007 and 2008 for Labor and Employment Law
• Chambers USA: America's Leading Labor & Employment Lawyers (2008, 2007, 2006, 2005): Top Tier Employment Group in Arizona
• "Leading Lawyers," The Business Journal, 2006
• Workforce Management magazine's Hot List: Top 15 Labor & Employment law firms in the US
• "Best of the Bar," The Business Journal, 2005

• Labor Lawyers Advisory Council to National CUE Association
• Developing Labor Law Committee, American Bar Association 
• National Financial Institutions Employment Lawyers Committee

• Society for Human Resource Management: Positive Labor Relations in a New Legislative Environment (5/29/09);
• California Fashion Association: HR Forum On Emerging Labor Trends (5/14/09);
• Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America: Fundamental Change to Union Organizing Laws in 2009: Three Things to Consider Now (4/22/09);
• National Indian Gaming Association: Union Organizing Trends In Indian Country (4/15/09);
• Federal Bar Association, Indian Law Conference: The Court As Conqueror: Tribal Labor Laws In The Age Of Federal Jurisdiction (4/3/09);
• California Fashion Association: The Employee Free Choice Act: A Proactive Action Plan (4/2/09);
• Arizona Desert Classic Gaming Conference: Federal Labor Law Meets Tribal Sovereignty: Three Case Studies With One Result (2/17/09);
• California Fashion Association: Labor Law Changes On The Horizon (12/18/08);
• National Indian Gaming Association: Tribal Statutory Updates in Anticipation of Union Organizing Efforts (4/22/08);
• Fifth Annual Labor Relations Conference: Sorting Out Protected vs. Unprotected Activity Under the NLRA; Revisiting Employer Solicitation and E-Mail Policies; Basic NLRA Law for New Managers (4/11/08) (A Steptoe-Sponsored Event);
• SHRM/CUE Legal Alert: NLRB Rules That An Employer's Property Interest in its E-Mail System Gives it the Right to Prohibit Union Communications (1/8/08);
• Speaker/Writer: Union Pursues Organizing in the Hospitality Industry; Webinar/In-House Seminar (11/15/07) (A Steptoe-Sponsored Event);
• Speaker/Writer: Labor Law Update: What Health Care Employers Need to Know About SEIU; Webinar (10/15/07) (A Steptoe-Sponsored Event);
• Speaker/Writer: CUE Fall 2007 Conference: Will A Union Surf the Web Into Your Workplace? - Strategies and Tactics for Union Avoidance in Cyberspace (10/14/07) (Colorado Springs, CO);
• Writer: Steptoe & Johnson LLP Takes Lead On New NLRB Law (5/18/07);
• Speaker/Writer: Fourth Annual Labor Relations Conference: Employee Use of E-Mail and Internal Publications To Discuss Unions; How the NLRB Works "R" and "C" Cases (5/02/07) (A Steptoe-Sponsored Event);
• Writer: Labor Issues for Non-Organized and Organized Employers, Sabanes-Oxley Compliance and Whistle-blower Protection, Labor Issues and Union Avoidance, Annual Employment Law Update (2/6/2007);
• Speaker/Writer: What Every Employer Needs to Know About Proposition 202 by January 1, 2007; Webinar (12/19/06) (A Steptoe-Sponsored Event);
• Speaker/Writer: Guard Publishing:  Is Email A Cyberspace Workplace or Company Property?  National Finance Industry Employment Law Committee (6/8/2006);
• Writer: Trade Secrets & Employee Raiding Update (4/20/06)
• Writer: Labor Relations Law Update (3/1/06);
• Writer: Advanced Employment Law:  Working Through Common Problems, National Business Institute Teleconference (2006);
• Speaker/Writer: Lessons Learned From Restrictive Convenant Litigation^©, Steven Wheeless, Key Employees In Transition:  Trends & Tactics for Protecting Intellectual Property and Trade Secrets in the Workplace - Corporate Counsel Teleconference (2006);
• Speaker/Writer: 2006 Sarbanes-Oxley Update, National Finance Industry Employment Law Committee;
• Speaker/Writer: The Importance of Quickly and Correctly Determining Who Is A Supervisor Under the NLRA, Resisting A Union Campaign From A-Z, The Critical First Battleground Of The Campaign:  Bargaining Unit Issues, Third Annual Labor Relations Conference (2006);
• Speaker/Writer: The Most Effective Tool To Prevent Inevitable Disclosure and Litigation Strategies and Tactics for Dealing with Key Employees in Transition, Key Employees In Transition:  Trends & Tactics for Protecting Intellectual Property and Trade Secrets in the Workplace - Biltmore Labor and IP Law Seminar (2006);
• Speaker/Writer: Training Supervisors To Be Effective, Lawful Members Of A Union-Avoidance Team, National Duty Association Annual Meeting (2006);
• Writer: Sarbanes Oxley And The Non-Public Subsidiary:  A Non-Sequitur?, The Corporate Counselor (2005);
• Writer: Confidential Client Communications?  Maybe Not: Sarbanes-Oxley Versus the Attorney-Client Privilege; The Corporate Counselor (2005);
• Speaker/Writer: Managing Labor Relations Risk in the 21st Century, American Express Labor Training Seminar (2005);
• Speaker/Writer: Training Supervisors to be Effective Members of the Union–Avoidance Team, Second Annual Labor Relations Conference (2005);
• Speaker/Writer: Clarifying the FMLA’s Legalese, Auditing Your Policies and Procedures for Compliance: What Exactly Are the Employer's Responsibilities under the FMLA?, Council for Education in Management (2005);
• Speaker/Writer: Untangling the Web of Overlapping Provisions of the FMLA, ADA, PDA, Workers' Comp, and Antidiscrimination Laws, Council for Education in Management (2005); 
• Speaker/Writer: Is Gordon Gekko (Wall Street) Really Gone?  Practical and Ethical Issues of Importance to Labor and Employment Attorneys under Sarbanes-Oxley, ABA Developing Labor Law Mid-Winter Meeting (2005);
• Writer: A Guide to Union Picketing and Handbilling, The Practical Lawyer (2005);
• Writer: What Bush’s Re-Election Means for Trends in National Labor Policy: Legal Principles with Practical Effects on Employers, Corporate Counsel Division (2005);
• Speaker/Writer: Changing Times & Tactics: Labor Law in the 21st Century, Biltmore Labor Law Seminar (2004);
• Speaker/Writer: 2004 Labor Trends in the Finance Industry, National Finance Industry Employment Law Committee;
• Speaker/Writer: Negotiating the Weingarten Obstacle Course in the Non-Union Setting, ALI-ABA Employment and Labor Law (2004);
• Contributing editor to Developing Labor Law (Cumulative Supplement 2004 and 2005);
• Speaker/Writer: Reasonable Accommodation: How Far Must You Go?, AAI Annual Human Resources Summit;
• Speaker/Writer: Legal Research: Advanced Techniques and Tools, National Business Institute Annual Conference;
• Speaker/Writer: Current Issues of Significance under the Americans with Disabilities Act, ALI-ABA Employment and Labor Law (8th Ed. 1997);
• Speaker/Writer: Employer Policies and Procedures: Conducting a Legal Audit, Avoiding Liability for Hostile Work Environment Sexual Harassment Claims, Limiting Liability for Workplace Violence, the Process of Achieving a Reasonable Accommodation under the ADA, East Valley Seminar Series;
• Speaker/Writer: Multi-Employer Job Site Liability, LES Annual OSHA Conference;
• Speaker/Writer: Can You Be Disabled when You're Not?, CUE Annual Conference;
• Writer: Problem Areas under the ADA: Pre-Employment Inquiries and Reasonable Accommodations, Arizona Labor Letter; and, The Family and Medical Leave Act, Age Discrimination in Employment Act and Veterans' Affairs Sections of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce Employer Handbook;
• Contributing editor to Schlei & Grossman's Employment Discrimination Law  (3d Ed. 1997).

Select News & Events

• Sixth Annual Labor Relations Conference, April 24, 2009, (A Steptoe-Sponsored Event)
• Annual Employment Law Update: What In-House Counsel and HR Executives Need to Know, February 10, 2009, (A Steptoe-sponsored event)
• Steptoe Presents: Post-Election Changes to Labor Law; Act Now to Remain Union-Free, December 4, 2008, (A Steptoe-Sponsored Event)
• Fourteen Steptoe & Johnson LLP Attorneys in Phoenix are Named Super Lawyers