Karla Campbell
Nominee
Nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on May 23, 2024.
On May 23, 2024, President Biden nominated Karla M. Campbell to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Campbell currently serves as Of Counsel for prestigious plaintiff’s side employment and labor law firm Stranch Jennings & Garvey.
Background
Campbell was born in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1979. She earned her B.A. from the University of Virginia (UVA) in 2002 and her J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center in 2008. At UVA, Campbell was awarded Highest Distinction from the Distinguished Majors Program and was on the Dean’s List every year of her attendance. Similarly lauded at Georgetown, she received the CALI Excellence for the Future Award in the Spring of 2007.
Before attending law school, Campbell spent three years in Ecuador working for the Peace Corps. During that time, she earned a certificate in Refugee and Humanitarian Emergencies.
Legal Experience
After graduating from law school, Campbell joined D.C. law firm Watson & Renner. While working for the firm, Campbell also served as an International Affairs Specialist for the United States Department of the Interior. In 2009, she left D.C. to clerk for Judge Jane Branstetter Stranch of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Campbell was hired before Judge Stranch’s confirmation and briefly worked for Nashville law firm Branstetter Stranch & Jennings (now “Stranch Jennings & Garvey”) while waiting for her clerkship to begin. Campbell was in the first cohort of clerks for Judge Stranch and is now nominated to fill Judge Stranch’s seat on the Sixth Circuit.
Following her clerkship, Campbell returned to Jennings as an associate. She has since been elevated first to Partner and then to Of Counsel, her current role. Campbell’s work at the firm largely involves plaintiff’s side employment and labor law. During her 13 years at the firm, Campbell has litigated everything from union-management disputes to employee benefits cases. The majority of her practice has been in federal courts – a whopping 80% – though she does have experience practicing before state courts and administrative agencies.
In addition to her litigation work, Campbell routinely negotiates high-level community benefits agreements for local organizations. She negotiated Tennessee’s first community benefits agreement between Nashville community organizations and the developers of Geodis Park, the city’s new Major League Soccer stadium. Campbell’s impressive negotiation skills ensured that community members could play a role in stadium development. Since her resounding success in the Geodis Park negotiation, Campbell has negotiated numerous other community benefits agreements. These negotiations are but another example of Campbell using her legal expertise to help her community.
Alphabet Workers Union-Communication Workers of American, Local 9009 v. National Labor Relations Board
Alphabet Workers Union-Communication Workers of American, Local 9009 v. National Labor Relations Board, No. 24-1003 (D.C. Cir.)
Alphabet Workers concerns a unionizing effort at YouTube Music. The Regional Director of the National Labor Relations Board certified Google and Cognizant as joint employers for collective bargaining purposes. Google is the parent company of YouTube Music and Cognizant is a contractor. Both corporations disagreed with the NLRB’s assessment and refused to bargain. This high-level labor law dispute concerns issues of first impression regarding joint employers and is still in the early stages of litigation before the D.C. Circuit. Campbell is lead counsel in the case.
Sheet Metal Workers’ Health & Welfare Fund of N. Carolina v. L. Off. Of Michael A. DeMayo
Sheet Metal Workers’ Health & Welfare Fund of N. Carolina v. L. Off. Of Michael A. DeMayo, LLP, 2020 WL 13517244 (M.D. Tenn. Oct. 26, 2021)
Sheet Metal Workers is an attempt by a handful of multiemployer employee benefit funds to collect unpaid contributions. These contributions are vital to ensuring that employees receive their promised benefits. Campbell represented the funds in this litigation, eventually succeeding in convincing the District Court to grant summary judgment in the plaintiff’s favor. Campbell further represented the plaintiffs on appeal before the Sixth Circuit. To date, the case is still pending.
Woody on behalf of Insulators & Allied Workers Loc. No. 46 Annuity Fund v. USA DeBusk, LLC
Woody on behalf of Insulators & Allied Workers Loc. No. 46 Annuity Fund v. USA DeBusk, LLC, No. 3:19-CV-01018, 2020 WL 7425863 (M.D. Tenn. Dec. 18, 2020) (Trauger, J.)
In Woody, Campbell successfully litigated a novel Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) case before the Sixth Circuit, creating positive precedent for future cases. Woody involved a retirement fund which sought to recover unpaid funds from USA Debusk LLC, a successor entity to a defunct company. USA Debusk argued that they did not need to contribute the missing funds because ERISA Section 515 does not impose successor liability. Campbell argued on behalf of the workers and their union before the Sixth Circuit, urging the court to hold that successor liability does apply. The Court agreed with Campbell, remanding the case to the district court for further proceedings. The case was eventually settled.
Deschamps v. Bridgestone Americas, Inc. Salaried Emps. Ret. Plan
Deschamps v. Bridgestone Americas, Inc. Salaried Emps. Ret. Plan, 169 F.Supp.3d 735 (M.D. Tenn. 2015)
Deschamps was a retiree who hired Campbell after his former employer neglected to pay his promised pension benefits. Deschamps’s case involved several novel ERISA issues which Campbell successfully litigated before the Middle District of Tennessee and the Sixth Circuit. Both courts ruled in Deschamps’ favor, thanks to Campbell’s advocacy.
Int’l Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local Union No. 413 v. The Kroger Co., dba Tamarack Farms Dairy
Int’l Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local Union No. 413 v. The Kroger Co., dba Tamarack Farms Dairy, 2021 WL 462704
In Tamarack Farms, members of a local union sought to enforce their collective bargaining agreement with Kroger. Under the agreement, Kroger promised to arbitrate pension benefit disputes, but the company refused to do so. Campbell represented the union in this case, successfully obtaining summary judgment in the plaintiff’s favor. The case was appealed to the Sixth Circuit, which affirmed the lower court’s holding.
Professional Activities
Campbell served as a board member on the AFL-CIO’s Lawyers Coordinating Committee from 2016-2019. She also served as Director (2013-2015) and Committee Chair (2011-2012) of the Marion Griffin Chapter of the Lawyers Association for Women.