Result

Labor Team Creates Employment Culture that is Litigation and Union Averse

June 2008

Before construction began, Gordon & Rees’ Labor lawyers met with the owners and developers of the Four Seasons Hualalai on the island of Hawaii to design human resources policies and procedures that were rooted in the most sacred values of Hawaiian culture. Instead of employing workers "at-will,” we designed an employment contract that promised the employees fair treatment and required arbitration of all disputes. We gave local community leaders a voice in the design of the resort and included them in important decisions affecting the resort and the community.

We placed one of those leaders on the staff of the resort to act as an ombudsman/spiritual advisor to the employees. All of these things were done at our suggestion. The ILWU was rejected in its two – and only - attempts to unionize the workers, the resort has had virtually no employment litigation, and has had only two arbitrations in the 13 years of its existence.