Kerin E. Stackpole, SPHR Director
Kerin Stackpole leads the Employment + Labor Law Group. She provides practical and proactive advice to senior leaders and management teams regarding a wide range of labor and employment issues, including workforce planning, hiring and on-boarding, performance management, legal and recordkeeping compliance, leave management, employee engagement, policy development and implementation, union avoidance, and discipline and discharge. Kerin firmly believes that the best defense against legal claims begins well before those claims are made – with positive and continuous employee engagement, good education for supervisors and managers, fair and consistent practices, and solid documentation.
Kerin is also an experienced litigator and a skilled teacher. She has taught at several law schools and colleges on the East Coast, and she regularly designs and presents training programs for businesses and municipalities seeking to strengthen the skills of their management team. Kerin has been a featured speaker at conferences for numerous state and local human resource associations, municipal and payroll associations, Lorman Educational Services, and the Champlain College Management Excellence Series.
NEWS: Is it legal in Vermont to fire someone for marching in a rally?
Professional + Community
Chittenden County Bar Association
Society for Human Resource Management, 2006 – Present
Vermont Bar Association, Chair of Employment Law Section, 2000-2004
Vermont Human Resources Association, 2007 – Present
Supports numerous non-profits with service on their governing boards, or on various projects and committees – Mater Christi School, Ethan Allen Homestead Trust, The Stern Center for Language and Learning, Visiting Nurses Association of Chittenden and Grand Isle Counties, Mercy Connections, and Wake Robin Corporation
University of Vermont Medical Center, Board Member, Compensation Committee Member, and Audit Committee Member, 2016 – 2017; Secretary of the Board and Executive Committee Member, 2018 – Present.
Wheaton College, President of the Alumnae/i Association; Member of the Alumnae/i Board of Directors; Member of the Wheaton College Board of Trustees, 2010 – 2015
Honors
Best Lawyers in America® 2011 – present
Best Lawyers in America® – “Lawyer of the Year” for Labor + Employment in Burlington, 2013, 2017, 2019, 2020
Chambers & Partners (USA) (for achievement in Employment Law, Band 1), 2009 – present
New England Super Lawyers, 2014 – present
Super Lawyers, 2014, 2022
Reported Cases
Boynton v. CLEARCHOICEMD, MSO, LLC, 2019 VT 49
Gauthier v. Keurig Green Mountain, Inc., 2015 VT 108,129 A.3d 108 (Vt. 2015)
Blue v. Department of Labor, 2011 VT 84, 27 A.3d 1096 (Vt. 2011)
Morway v. Trombly, 173 Vt. 266 (2001)
Tour Costa Rica v. Country Walkers, Inc., 171 Vt. 116 (2000)
Bruekner v. Norwich University, 169 Vt. 118 (1999)
Ballard v. University of Vermont, 166 Vt. 612 (1997)