Labor and Human Resources Legal Team

Assistant General Counsel, Jason Krestoff (A)

The Labor and Human Resources Legal Team is the house counsel for all general personnel matters, with the sole exception of employee discipline; manages all employment litigation against the Department and its employees, serves as the Department’s liaison with both the Office of the Attorney General and outside retained defense counsel and serves as the Department’s representative at mediations and mandatory settlement conferences; provides direct legal support to the Office of Employee Wellness and field Return to Work Coordinators dealing with employee medical issues and requests for reasonable accommodation; provides direct legal support to the Office of Labor Relations, including grievance responses, management of labor relations-based litigation and assisting during contract and other union negotiations; assists the Office of Risk Management in evaluating and managing significant Workers’ Compensation cases; provides direct support to the Office of Civil Rights in negotiations with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing and the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, assists in the preparation of settlement and other documents and reviews completed investigations to provide recommendations for clearance and remedial actions; represents the Department before the State Personnel Board in response to complaints of discrimination, harassment or failure to provide a reasonable accommodation, before CalOSHA concerning citations for work-place safety issues and before other administrative bodies as needed; and, finally works with other external control agencies to resolve issues concerning the Department’s personnel practices.