Peter J. Lefeber is Special Counsel in the firm’s Labor, Employment and Benefits Department. Having joined Wiggin and Dana in 1980, Mr. Lefeber has practiced labor and employment law exclusively on behalf of private employers for more than four decades. His client base and breadth of experience are expansive, representing management in all aspects of the employment relationship. A significant portion of his work focuses on traditional labor relations, which includes union organizing drives, unfair labor practice cases before the National Labor Relations Board, arbitration hearings primarily pursuant to the procedures of the American Arbitration Association, labor contract negotiations, and strike management. Mr. Lefeber has assisted clients in the negotiation of hundreds of collective bargaining agreements and advised on scores of grievances and arbitration matters in a wide array of industries.
The remainder of his practice involves conventional employment matters, such as the ongoing counseling and defense of employers in regard to discrimination claims before the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunities Commission, wrongful discharge suits, wage-and-hour matters before the U.S. and Connecticut Departments of Labor, sexual harassment claims, severance arrangements for executives and non-executives, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and worker’s compensation retaliation claims, Family and Medical Leave Act matters, non-compete agreements, reductions in force, plant closings, immigration matters, and related issues. His client base includes hospitals, home health care agencies, electric and gas utilities, colleges and universities, private secondary schools, insurance organizations, trade associations, manufacturing companies, stevedoring operators, newspapers, beverage distributors, food service companies, architectural firms, tech startups, insurance organizations, and various not-for-profit corporations. He has served clients up and down the East Coast and in Canada.
Mr. Lefeber is a member of the American Bar Association’s (ABA’s) Labor and Employment Section and has served on the Executive Committee of the Connecticut Bar Association’s Section on Labor and Employment Law. He is a regular lecturer for a variety of management groups in the field of employment law, having lectured extensively for such groups as the Connecticut Bar Association, the National Business Institute, the Council on Education in Management, the Institute for Applied Law and Management, the Connecticut Hospital Association, and the Connecticut Association for Home Care. Mr. Lefeber is listed in The Best Lawyers in America in the category of Labor and Employment Law and in Chambers USA, where he has been recognized as a “Leader in the Field.”
Mr. Lefeber has served numerous terms on the firm’s Executive Committee and Compensation Committee and is a former Chair of the Labor, Employment and Benefits Department.
Mr. Lefeber earned his J.D. with honors from the University of Connecticut School of Law, where he served as the Administrative Editor Connecticut Law Review. He received a B.A. in Political Science summa cum laude from St. Michael’s College.
Education
- University of Connecticut School of Law (J.D., 1980)
- cum laude
- St. Michael's College (A.B., 1977)
- summa cum laude
Bar Admissions
- Connecticut
Memberships and Affiliations
- American Bar Association
- Labor and Employment Section
- Connecticut Bar Association
- Labor and Employment Section
