Clark Hill Attorney Barbara A. Ruga Co-Presents During the Mackinac Center for Public Policy's Issues & Ideas Forum

GRAND RAPIDS, MI

– Clark Hill attorney Barbara A. Ruga co-presented as a panelist during the Mackinac Center for Public Policy’s Issues & Ideas Forum Wednesday, October 5th in Lansing, MI.  The discussion, “The Future of Unionized Government,” focused on how state labor law works, how it often it breaks down and what the legislature has done so far and what it ought to do next.

Barbara A. Ruga

is a member of Clark Hill’s Education & Municipal Practice Group and the firm’s Labor & Employment Law Practice Group. For more than 30 years, Barb has been advising and counseling public school districts and businesses on a wide variety of labor and employment law issues. Barb has extensive experience negotiating teacher contracts in a context of scarce resources. Barb advocates for prevention through education, and to that end specializes in employee training programs.

Barb is a highly sought after presenter, regularly delivering employment seminars and training programs statewide and nationally to businesses and associations. Barb has been a frequent lecturer for the Michigan Negotiators Association for the past 10 years – presenting at their semi-annual annual conferences, annual training institute, and winter mini-series. This winter, she presented a keynote address, “Communication Strategies and Responding to Pressure Tactics,” during the Michigan Association of School Boards, Michigan Association of School Administrators and Michigan School Business Officials’ co-sponsored seminar. More recently, she helped MASB & MSBO members understand the “New Era of Tenure” and has traveled the State speaking on the new school law reforms.

Barb is a published author in the National School Boards Association’s Leadership Insider (2010), and a contributing author of Michigan Wrongful Discharge and Employment Discrimination Law (ICLE, Second Edition, 1994 and updates) and Employment Law in Michigan (ICLE, 1997 and updates).

Barb has been recognized by her peers as a leader in the school labor negotiations field through the prestigious Harlow Claggett award, received in 2007 for her contributions to public school labor negotiations. She has presented at the National Council of School Attorneys and the North American Educators Negotiators Association.