Brett Swearingen

Associate

Miller Johnson

Brett Swearingen is an Associate in Miller Johnson’s Employment and Labor practice.

Employment & Labor

Mr. Swearingen advises clients on matters related to traditional labor law and workplace policy, including hiring, retention, dispute resolution, claims of harassment, equal opportunity, safety and health, FMLA, and discipline and discharge.

Brett previously served as Counselor to the Deputy Secretary at the United States Department of Labor. At the DOL, he counseled the Deputy Secretary and Secretary on employee benefits and civil rights matters and was a key advisor on several important rulemakings within the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), including regulations concerning ESG investing, proxy voting, and fiduciary investment advice, and reforms to OFCCP’s enforcement procedures and religious exemption.

ERISA Litigation

Brett was previously a litigator in the employee benefits practice of a global law firm, where he defended clients in several multi-million dollar ERISA withdrawal liability cases against multiemployer pension funds concerning alleged evade or avoid liability, successor liability, and employer challenges to pension funds’ discount rates.

Mr. Swearingen is currently licensed in Michigan, Washington, D.C. and Illinois.

Education

Born and raised in Southwest Michigan, Mr. Swearingen was awarded his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School in 2014 and a B.A. in Political Science from Wheaton College (IL) in 2003.  Prior to law school, he also spent a year studying at St. John’s Seminary in Boston.