Krista A. Gay
Of Counsel
Krista Gay provides employers with proactive and comprehensive labor and employment law services, including compliance guidance, litigation defense, and labor relations counsel.
Email: kgay@drm.com
Phone: 802-258-3070
Direct: 802-451-2337
Supporting employers with comprehensive labor and employment law strategies
Krista Gay focuses her practice on all areas of labor and employment law. She defends employers across industries in labor and employment litigation, including unfair labor practice charges before the National Labor Relations Board, and claims related to harassment, discrimination, and wage and hour issues before federal and state courts and administrative agencies. She also works to proactively prevent disputes by advising employers on compliance issues related to hiring, employee discipline, termination, payroll practices, and internal complaints; as well as by drafting and reviewing employment policies and handbooks to ensure compliance with frequently-changing employment laws.
Assisting employers with their traditional labor relations matters is a particular passion for Krista. She has experience assisting with the negotiation of collective bargaining agreements for employers ranging from Fortune 500 companies to non-profits, advising employers during union campaigns, counseling employers on a myriad of labor-related compliance and relations issues, and representing employers during unfair labor practice investigations and proceedings.
Krista was previously a Labor & Employment Associate with an international law firm in New York City. Prior to entering private practice, Krista clerked for the Hon. Ramon E. Reyes, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, served as an intern to the Hon. Patty Shwartz of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and worked as an Assistant Corporation Counsel in the Labor & Employment Division of the New York City Law Department.
Active in her community, Krista is dedicated to making college accessible to first-generation college students and making Windham County a place where students would like to return to live and work after completing their education. She is an elected member of the Athens, Vermont Select Board and the Athens/Grafton Elementary School Board and serves on the Board of Directors of Parks Place Community Resource Center and the Alumni Board of John Brown University.
In her free time, Krista enjoys adventuring with her goldendoodle, perfecting her grandma’s no-bake cookie recipe, and finding unique looking stamps to add to her passport.
Education
Brooklyn Law School, J.D.; Executive Notes & Comments Editor, Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law
John Brown University, B.A., History and Political Science
John Brown University, B.S., Child & Family Studies and Family & Human Services
Experience
- Prior to joining Downs Rachlin Martin, Krista was an associate attorney in the Labor & Employment Law practice of a global law firm, based in their New York city office. There she assisted employers, ranging from Fortune 50 companies to non-profits, in addressing and resolving the full spectrum of labor and employment matters including employment litigation, union campaigns, collective bargaining negotiations, and advice on how to navigate day to day employment law compliance concerns. There, Krista also developed special expertise in assisting employers with complying with New York’s manual workers law.
- As an assistant corporation counsel in the Labor & Employment Division of the New York City Law Department Krista represented city agencies in employment claims brought under Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), Section 1983, and the New York Labor Law.
- Krista served as a law clerk to the Hon. Ramon E. Reyes, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. In this role, she drafted Orders and Report & Recommendations regarding the Fair Labor Standards Act, ERISA, the New York Labor Law, and constitutional law claims.
Admissions
Arkansas 2020
New York 2020
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York 2022
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York 2022
Massachusetts 2023
Vermont 2023
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit 2025
Clerkships
Law clerk to the Honorable Ramon E. Reyes, Jr., U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, 2021 to 2022
Memberships & Activities
Federal Bar Council
Federal Bar Association, Eastern District of New York
Accolades & Awards
Recognized by Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America for Labor and Employment Law – Management, Brattleboro, 2024
Recognized by Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America for Labor and Employment Law – Management, and Litigation, Brattleboro, 2025
Community Involvement
- Athens Select Board, Town of Athens, VT, Selectboard Member, 2023-Present
- Athens/Grafton Elementary School District, Grafton, VT, School Board Member, 2022-Present
- Parks Place Community Resource Center, Bellows Falls, VT, Board Member, 2022-Present
- John Brown University, Alumni Board, 2021-Present
Publications
Ineffective Congressional Response to the #MeToo Movement: Why Legislation Proscribing Mandatory Arbitration Agreements is Improper and Fails to Protect Workers, 39 WOMEN’S RTS. L. REP. 176 (2020)
Dads Are Parents, Too: Why Amending The Pregnancy Discrimination Act is Necessary for Courts to Determine if a Parental Leave Policy Violates Title VII, 13 BROOK. J. CORP., FIN. & COMM. L. 191 (2018)
Are We All “Manual Workers” Under New York Law? NEW YORK LAW JOURNAL (Nov. 8, 2022),
Beware Rise in Lawsuits Under NY Manual Worker Pay Rule, LAW360 (Oct. 27, 2022),