Carrie Blackwood

Over two decades of experience and knowledge in workplace law, organizational leadership, political advocacy, institutional representation, complex multi-party dispute resolution, negotiation, and labor relations. Representing governmental entities, labor unions, non-profits, small business, and employees.

Labor Law:

Arbitration
Unfair Labor Practice Representation
Contract Negotiation
Grievance Handling
Contract Interpretation
Partnership Building
Labor Relations Training and Development

Employment Law:

Disability Accommodation
Paid Leave
Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Prevention
Workplace Policies and Procedures
Navigation of Discipline
Severance Agreements
EEOC and WA State Human Rights Compliance
Employment Contracts

Independent Workplace Investigator:

Association of Workplace Investigators Certificate Holder (AWI-CH)

Public and Private Sector
Union Environments
Workplace Discrimination
Incompetence
Abuse of Power
Misconduct
Retaliation

Her experience includes acting as Senior Legal Counsel representing a professional aerospace union consisting of nearly twenty-three thousand professional aerospace workers, over a decade of Lead Labor Negotiator experience, and service as the Director of Training and Development for thousands of public sector professional and technical employees in Washington and Oregon.

In these capacities she supported the resolution of countless workplace conflicts through reasoned counsel, negotiation, advocacy, mediation, administrative hearings, and arbitration including settlement of interest and non-interest arbitration contracts, unfair labor practice disputes, complicated health care agreements, and complex classification compensation wage contracts.

Carrie is a graduate of Fairhaven College’s Law, Diversity, and Justice Program, and earned her Juris Doctorate from Mitchell Hamline School of Law with a focus on Labor and Employment Law and Alternative Dispute Resolution.

Admission to Practice:

State of Washington, 2016
State of Minnesota, 1998 (Inactive)

Certification:

Independent Workplace Investigations’ AWI-CHI Certificate holder, 2018-present.
Certificate of Accomplishment Becoming a Labor Arbitrator, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services, 2016.

Washington State Bar Association Board of Governor Appointments:

Diversity Committee 2016-2018

Professional Affiliations:

Association of Workplace Investigators
Washington State Bar Association
Whatcom County Bar Association
Skagit County Bar Association
Latinx Bar Association
Whatcom Women Lawyers
WSBA Labor and Employment Law Section

Community Involvement:

Washington State Bar Association Labor and Employment Law Conference Panelist, 2019
Candidate for Washington State Senate, 2019
Labor Studies Senior Adjunct Professor Western Washington University, Fairhaven College, 2019
Bellingham City Club Panelist- Sexual Harassment and #MeToo- April 2018
Washington State Bar Association- Decoding the Law: #MeToo- March 2018
Law Advocates Volunteer, 2018 & 2019
Committee to Elect Judge Cecily Hazelrigg Hernandez 2018