Bagenstos appointed to Michigan Employment Relations Commission

Samuel Bagenstos, the Frank G. Millard Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School, has been appointed to the Michigan Employment Relations Commission by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

He was appointed as a Democrat for a term that commenced December 18, 2019 and expiring June 20, 2022.

Bagenstos succeeds Natalie Yaw whose term expired June 30, 2019.

The Governor has designated Bagenstos to serve as Chairperson of the Commission.

Prior to his time at U of M, Bagenstos was an assistant professor of law at Harvard Law School, professor of law and associate dean for research and faculty development at the Washington University School of Law, and a visiting professor of law at the UCLA School of Law.

He has taught courses on civil rights litigation, constitutional litigation, disability rights law, employment law and discrimination, labor law, and workplace law and policy advocacy. 

Bagenstos is a former Deputy Assistant Attorney General with the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice where he supervised the division’s appellate, disability rights, and special litigation sections.

He holds a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of North Carolina.

The Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC) resolves labor disputes involving public and private sector employees by appointing mediators, arbitrators and fact finders, conducting union representation elections, determining appropriate bargaining units, and adjudicating unfair labor practice cases. The Commission, supported by the staff of the Bureau of Employment Relations, administers The Public Employment Relations Act (PERA), The Labor Relations and Mediation Act (LMA), and The Compulsory Arbitration Act (312).