Presented on behalf of:


Karen Pierce
Karen Pierce is the Managing Director of Policy Development & Training for Working Partners®, a training and consulting firm specializing in helping workplaces minimize the risks associated with substance abuse. She also served as Director of the Drug-Free Workforce Community Initiative, a public-private partnership with the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services to address the economic threat of substance abuse by employees and job seekers in our state. 

Karen has worked in the alcohol/drug profession since 1982 and has devoted the past 25 years of her career to drug-free workplace issues. She received an undergraduate degree from Bowling Green State University in Child and Family Development and Masters’ degrees in Social Work & Public Policy & Management from The Ohio State University.  

She began her career as a chemical dependency counselor in an outpatient clinic in Coshocton, Ohio. Upon moving to Columbus, Karen served as the Director of Adult Services at CompDrug and administered the award-winning HOPE Hotline. She also served as a consultant to the Ohio Credentialing Board for Chemical Dependency Professionals, where she facilitated the development and marketing of alcohol/drug prevention credentials for the State of Ohio.  

Karen currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Prevention Action Alliance and the Alcohol Drug Abuse Prevention Association of Ohio’s (ADAPAO) Prevention Think Tank. She has received several distinctions for her work in the prevention field including the Alcohol/Drug Abuse Prevention Association of Ohio’s “Excellence in Prevention” and “Prevention Advocate” awards.

Catherine Burgett
As a member with the firm, Catherine divides her time between a traditional labor practice and employment work.  Her labor practice includes working with clients to improve labor relations and resolve labor disputes; creating and assisting with corporate campaigns and representation elections; helping companies stay union-free; handling unfair labor practice charges; representing companies through the labor arbitration process; and negotiating collective bargaining agreements.

Catherine's employment practice includes employment litigation; wage and hour litigation; discrimination, harassment, and retaliation investigations and litigation; drafting and litigating employment contracts; creating and implementing corporate training programs; advising and assisting companies in negotiating the WARN Act; drafting and enforcing workplace policies; and serving as counsel on all aspects of employer-employee relations.

Catherine has represented companies in federal and state courts and before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Ohio Civil Rights Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, and the Pennsylvania Human Rights Commission.

While in law and business schools at the College of William and Mary, Catherine served on the William & Mary Law Review, was a founding member of both the Student Intellectual Property Society and the Child Law Advocacy Society, served as a Civil Procedure teaching assistant, and worked as a consultant for a Fortune 500 global defense and technology company. Catherine joined FBT in 2007 as an associate in the labor and employment department.