Practice: Eric Lindstrom advocates for workers and their causes. In his labor practice, Mr. Lindstrom represents unions in organizing campaigns, collective bargaining, impasse, and contract enforcement. He has appeared in arbitrations, before state and national labor agencies, and in litigation and appeals arising out of labor disputes. He also defends employees in layoff, disciplinary, and professional licensing proceedings. He has litigated constitutional, free speech and civil rights cases, drafted legislation, and advised political and activist campaigns.

Mr. Lindstrom began his career litigating class action lawsuits. In 2013, he moved to Florida, joining the front lines of the labor movement in the Deep South. He quickly became a leading union attorney in Florida and a named-partner with Egan, Lev, Lindstrom & Siwica. In 2020, he returned to Sacramento, rejoining the California labor movement.

Education: Mr. Lindstrom earned his bachelor’s degree with distinction from Iowa State University in 2007 and earned his law degree cum laude in 2010 from the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco. In law school, Mr. Lindstrom was an editor for the Women’s Law Journal and served an externship for U.S. District Court Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker (N.D. Cal.).

Lecturer/Speaker: In addition to speaking at labor and employment conferences, Mr. Lindstrom provides legal updates and trainings to unions.

Representative Litigation: 

George v. Susanville Elementary School District (2024) 103 Cal. App. 5th 349 (a teacher who acquired additional years of experience during a break in service was entitled to salary step credit for those years upon rehire; holding that the school district violated the Education Code's salary uniformity statute by denying such credit).

Gonzales v. Shasta County Office of Education (2022) Shasta Sup. Ct., 22-CV-199491 (petition for writ of mandate granted; finding that a teacher did not lose her permanent certificated status after she accepted reassignment to a position that her employer later determined was a classified position).

Gridley Unified School District v. Reed (2021) OAH No. 2021040523 (teacher prevailed in dismissal proceeding; wrongfully terminated teacher reinstated; school district ordered to pay the teacher's attorney's fees).

Attwood v. Clemons (11th Cir. 2020) 818 Fed. Appx. 863 (plaintiff stated a cause of action under First Amendment by alleging that his state representative blocked him on Twitter and Facebook).

United Faculty of Florida v. University of Florida (2020) 46 FPER ¶ 210 (university settled an unfair labor practice charge, rescinded unilaterally implemented policy, agreed to bargain over policy going forward, and allowed professors to keep a $2 million research prize).

United Faculty of Florida v. Florida Polytechnic University (2019) 46 FPER ¶ 63 (university committed an unfair labor practice by eliminating job classifications without bargaining and in retaliation; university was required to reestablish the positions, pay the affected employees backpay, and pay attorney’s fees). In a second case, the University paid $250,000 to settle a First Amendment retaliation lawsuit brought by another faculty member who spoke out against university during the first action. In a third case, the university was ordered to rescind a bogus reprimand issued to another faculty member who testified in the first action.

Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 1579 v. City of Gainesville (2019) 264 So.3d 375 (breaking with precedent to decide that a trial court order vacating an arbitration award is appealable; and upholding an arbitrator’s award finding that a bus driver was entitled to use force to defend herself against aggressive passengers).

International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 1365 (2018) 45 FPER ¶ 98 (city committed an unfair labor practice by using the impasse procedure to impose terms that waived bargaining rights).

UNITE HERE, Local 737 v. Walt Disney (2018) FMCS No. 17-54807 (arbitrator held that a last-chance agreement was no longer effective after a break in service; wrongfully terminated employee was reinstated with backpay).

International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 4867 (2016) FMCS No. 16-52166-3 (arbitrator determined that employees had just cause protections based on limiting language in the employer-drafted management rights clause; wrongful termination).

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 824 v. Verizon (11th Cir. 2015) 803 F.3d 1241 (affirming arbitrator’s authority to broadly construe the union’s grievance; successfully defending the union’s favorable arbitration decision).