Manesh Rath represents employers in a wide range of matters related to occupational safety and health law, litigation, wage and hour and class action litigation, and association law. He has extensive experience representing clients’ interests in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rulemakings. Employers, including some of the largest in the U.S., seek his representation in citations and investigations before federal OSHA and State Plans across the country.

Manesh has served as the lead amicus counsel on several cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, including Staub v. Proctor Hospital and Vance v. Ball State University. On several occasions, Manesh has testified before Congress on questions of occupational safety and health law.

Manesh has successfully defended employers nationwide in wage and hour and class action litigation. He also counsels and performs internal wage and hour audits for companies around the country.

His practice also includes counseling employers and manufacturers under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility guidelines and federal motor carrier safety regulations under the Department of Transportation.

Manesh serves as general counsel and as OSHA or employment counsel to numerous trade and professional associations.

Manesh hosts Keller and Heckman’s OSHA 30/30 podcast and webinar, a monthly program for the past twelve years covering critical developing issues of occupational safety and health to a large community of safety and health professionals. For twelve years, he also hosted The Employment Law Aftermath with Manesh Rath, a quarterly briefing for in-house counsel.

Manesh is frequently quoted in or interviewed by publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Smart Money Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, PBS's “Nightly Business Report," WAVY-TV, and C-SPAN. He has served as a panelist and as a moderator for the American Bar Association’s (ABA) annual OSHA conference and as faculty for legal ethics coursework for the DC Bar’s continuing legal education program.

Representative Matters

• Represented manufacturer in successful challenge of OSHA citation under the OSHA reporting rule
• Represented employers in construction, manufacturing, transportation, retail, and distribution, in contesting OSHA citations in almost every OSHA region and OSHA-approved State Plans nationwide
• Represented industries as lead amicus counsel before the U.S. Supreme Court in several landmark employment law cases
• Represented nationwide employer on co-employment doctrine before the Tenth Circuit, resulting in landmark decision in favor of employers
• Served as First chair in state and federal jury trials in favorable jury verdicts
• Successfully obtained dismissal of claims against employers in state and federal claims at the initial motion to dismiss stage and in pretrial motions

Memberships

• Board of Advisors for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Small Business Legal Center
• Society for Human Resources (SHRM) Special Expertise Panel for Occupational Safety and Health
• Virginia Bar Association Young Lawyers Division Mentor Program for Hampton Roads (Co-Chair from 1996 to 1997)
• Board of Directors and General Counsel for the Northern Virginia Society for Human Resource Management (2002-2007)
• American Bar Association (ABA)

Awards

• The Best Lawyers in America^®: Employment Law – Management, 2017 – 2025
• The Best Lawyers in America^®: Litigation – Labor and Employment, 2016 – 2025
• The Best Lawyers in America^®: Employment Law – Management "Lawyer of the Year" 2023 in Washington, DC 
• Super Lawyers, Washington, DC, Employment and Labor, 2017 – 2024
• Smart CEO Magazine's Readers' Choice List of Legal Elite
• Lexology Client Choice Award for the District of Columbia in Labor, Employment, and Benefits, 2017