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Rachel L. Conn
Chair, California Practice
OSHA
  Workplace Safety Practice Group 
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rconn@connmaciel.com
(O) 415.233.4551 | (M) 415.866.4849



One Sansome Street • Suite 3500
San Francisco, CA 94104
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Rachel L. Conn is the Chair of Conn Maciel Carey’s California Practice.  She is based out of the firm’s San Francisco office.

 

Ms. Conn’s practice has a special focus on Occupational Safety and Health compliance and litigation, including inspections, investigations and enforcement actions involving Cal/OSHA, Federal OSHA, and other State OSH Plans.

 

Prior to joining Conn Maciel Carey, Ms. Conn was a Partner at Nixon Peabody, where she led the firm’s national Occupational Safety and Health Practice. Ms. Conn developed state of the art safety procedures, conducted or directed OSH-related training and compliance audits, managed and litigated appeals of citations, and represented employers and trade associations in Cal/OSHA and federal OSHA rulemakings.

 

In addition to her OSHA-focused practice, Ms. Conn also leverages a wide-range of skills from traditional labor law and employment law, including representing, advising and training clients in various areas such as wrongful termination, employment discrimination and harassment, arbitrations, ADA Title III access, trade secrets, and restrictive covenants and wage-hour.

Representative Experience:

 

  • Designed and implemented global technology company’s Workplace Violence Prevention and Response program to identify and mitigate risk of violence, harm, and disruption to the workplace.

  • Litigated California’s first COVID-19 citations under the Cal/OSHA Aerosol Transmissible Disease standard on behalf of a leading health care system.

  • Represented utility company in defending against Cal/OSHA citations related to one of the country’s largest natural gas leaks.

  • Drafted employer and trade association comments to various Cal/OSHA proposed regulations including Wildfire Smoke Prevention, Workplace Violence Prevention in Healthcare, COVID-19 Prevention, and Workplace Violence in General Industry. 

  • Represented waste management company during district attorney investigation and prosecution of alleged safety violations under the California Business and Professions Code Section 17200.

  • On behalf of a main insurance company, audited and developed safety program for lone workers in the field.

  • Managed intensive site inspection for large winery related to confined spaces, lock out tag out, HazWoper, and HazCom.

 

In 2022, Ms. Conn was selected by the San Francisco Business Times as a “40 Under 40” honoree, recognizing business leaders making significant contributions to the Bay Area community and to their company.

 

Ms. Conn is often quoted as a thought-leader in the field in various trade journals and publications.

 

Ms. Conn lives in the Bay Area with her husband and twin toddlers.

Events Rachel
In the News

Ms. Conn is frequently quoted as an authority by the media. A selection of recent articles can be found here.

Recent Events
  • “Legal issues in threat assessment & response,” Association of Threat Assessment Professionals (ATAP) NorCal Chapter Meeting, Folsom, CA, April 14, 2023

  • “California Wage Transparency Law,” SFMade, March 22, 2023

  • “Relevant Happenings at Cal/OSHA,” American Bar Association Section of Labor and Employment Law Workplace and Occupational Safety and Health Law Committee 2023 Midwinter Meeting, San Diego, CA, March 9, 2023

  • “Human Resource Issues: Policies for Companies in a Post-Pandemic Era,” Council for Affordable and Rural Housing's Annual Meeting, Arlington, VA, June 27, 2022

  • “Beyond Federal OSHA: Enforcement Efforts at the State Level,” 2022 Occupational Safety and Health Law Committee Midwinter Meeting, March 10, 2022

  • “COVID-19 (Coronavirus) in the Workplace,” Lorman Education Services, Webinar, January 27, 2022

  • “Federal and State Legislative Crystal Ball: Preparing Employers for 2022,” 2021 CIHC 30th Annual Professional Development Seminar, Webinar, December 6, 2021

  • “What the vaccine mandate means for your company,” Protocol, Webinar, September 30, 2021

  • “Behavior-Based Safety,” Lorman Education Services, Webinar, August 18, 2021

  • “Making it through changes in employment, labor and workplace health and safety law,” Rhode Island Manufacturers Association Spring Reignite & Reengage Conference, April 13, 2021

  • “COVID Litigation Trends, and Legislative and Regulatory Developments,” The Bar Association of San Francisco: Annual Labor and Employment Conference, Webinar, February 2021

  • “California’s COVID-19 Emergency Standards: How to Comply and Avoid Costly Enforcement,” Business & Learning Resources (BLR), Webinar, February 2021

  • “Returning to Work in the COVID-19 Era: Health and Safety Issues Raised by the Remote Workplace and the Return to Work,” Bar Association of San Francisco, Webinar, May 2020

Education

J.D., University of California, Berkeley School of Law

  • Associate Editor, Berkeley Technology Law Journal

  • Recipient, Prosser Award for Pre-Trial Civil Litigation

B.A., Catholic University of America​

Bar Admissions

California

Court Admissions

California State Courts

U.S. District Court, Northern District of California

U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California

U.S. District Court, Central District of California

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Memberships

 American Bar Association, Occupational Safety and Health Law Committee 

 Association of Threat Assessment Professionals-Northern California Chapter

Education Rachel
Admissions Rachel
News Rachel
Memberships Rachel
Rachel Articles

California Workplace
Violence Prevention
Program Solutions

Breakfast
Ideas

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Cal/OSHA Webinar Series

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