I did not know Paul very well personally; we met only a few times. Despite that fact, as a former Paul H. Tobias Attorney Fellow, I developed a keen sense of his warmth, his vision, and his devotion to workers’ rights through the people he inspired and the community he helped foster. Oftentimes when I met NELA members and introduced myself as the “PHT” Fellow they would share a fond memory of Paul from NELA’s founding and its early days.

35 years after NELA’s founding, it’s a testament to Paul’s vision that NELA, and now the Institute, continue to be such forceful advocates for workers and the attorneys that represent them. Here’s to another 35 years advancing equality and justice in the workplace. Paul wouldn’t have it any other way.… Read More

Although I never had the opportunity to meet Paul, I am so grateful for his vision and the community that he created. Paul’s legacy will continue to impact the lives of workers across the country.… Read More

Paul would always stop by the Products table at the Convention and ask who I am, I would introduce myself and every time, he would start singing “Maria, Maria” from the West Side Story. He would do this every year and I would laugh every time (because it’s not my name and Paul Tobias is singing to me.) Then he would pick up a T-shirt to look at the design for that year, and let me know what he thought of it. 

I love that annual routine, and his humor, kindness, and enthusiasm to be at the Annual Convention and see his people. You know we do a lot of people watching at the Convention, and just seeing him interact with other NELA members, you know he appreciated everyone and that they are all his friends and colleagues. 

I will always cherish sharing a laugh with Paul every year at the Products table. … Read More

Paul was a visionary.  He radiated endless energy.  He seemed to expend all it or vast amounts of it on ways to bring justice to the workplace.

To his vision, his successes, and our friendship, Amen!

Paul and I met first in Phoenix in the 1980’s when he button-holed me at an evening social of plaintiff lawyers from around the country who were attending an ABA labor and employment conference.  A few of the plaintiff’s attorneys at this gathering had previously at Paul’s prompting formed the Plaintiff’s Employment Lawyers Association (PELA) which subsequently changed the name to NELA.  Within minutes, if not seconds after we met, Paul was proselytizing. He was handing me a packet of xeroxed materials: tips for representing employees in discrimination cases.  In addition, he was promoting what was PELA’s last meeting and what became NELA’s historic first convention at Lake Tahoe. As I had by then spent 5 years at the EEOC in its first years and had spent another 14 years practicing exclusively employment discrimination law, I was truly taken by Paul.  He was so “gung-ho” about rallying, teaching, and expanding the pool of plaintiff employment lawyers.  So dear to our hearts were his rousing … Read More

I met Paul when I attended the NELA Annual Convention at Semiahmoo, near Bellingham, Washington.  I have no recollection of how I learned about the event, but my wife Michele Rusen and I decided to leave our then infant son Kirk Auvil with Michele’s mother and fly across the country to allow me to attend.  That infant – slightly altered in form – is pictured in the attached photo with Paul and me at the 2017 NELA Annual Convention in San Antonio.

I don’t remember specifics of the long ago Semiahmoo meeting.  I do remember flying home to West Virginia poring over the printed materials (that’s how we did things back then kids – a thousand trees died for our sins) and thinking, maybe I could make a living doing something that I feel good about – helping workers.  I knew very little about how to do that at the time, but Paul and every other NELA member I met – whether in person or online through the then Barry Roseman curated NELA listserv – celebrated my victories and consoled me in my disasters.  Thirty years later I’m thankful for Paul and many other NELA members who unselfishly shared with … Read More

Paul Tobias truly was a force for good. I’m so grateful to have known him and to be a part of our special NELA/Institute community. Paul was incredibly generous with his praise and attention. Everytime he saw me he would say, “I gave at the office,” with a huge smile on his face. He’d then tell me that I was doing a great job. I always felt happy after every interaction I had with Paul; he inspired goodness in others, including me.

One of my jobs is raising funds for The Institute’s Paul H. Tobias (PHT) Attorney Fellowship Program, which has given me a deep investment in making sure we continue Paul’s extraordinary legacy. Every year, I looked forward to watching Paul interact with our PHT Fellows. Embarking on a legal career, particularly one focused on representing workers, is challenging. It seemed like a gift to these new attorneys to have a Paul as a model of what lawyers can accomplish for ordinary people and for justice in the workplace.… Read More

The world will miss a man with a tremendous heart, an infectious smile, and loving laugh. Please take a moment to celebrate one of the greats.

Paul no doubt will be remembered for being a champion for workers’ rights, as the Founder of the National Employment Lawyers Association and Workplace Fairness, and as a prolific writer. He was the local leader and inspirational voice of the Cincinnati Employment Lawyers Association. (CELA was renamed in 2018 as the “Paul H. Tobias Chapter of NELA”, when he moved to Idaho Falls, Idaho to be closer to family.) His law firm, Tobias, Kraus, & Torchia (nka Tobias, Torchia, and Simon) is nationally known for its fierce advocacy for employees. Thousands of individuals were helped by Paul’s thoughtful counsel. We could go on and on about his legal accomplishments (and his ability as a swimmer, skier, and tennis player) into his 80s.

But Paul was much more than a lawyer. He was a husband, father, and grandfather. Paul was a listener, a mentor, a friend, someone you could reach out to for advice on any subject at a moment’s notice. “How can I help?” was his calling card. He was “The Founder” precisely because … Read More

Paul brought a joy  and an optimism to the quest for employee rights that was wonderful to share in and be a part of.

The first time I met him was at the PELA conference on Cape Cod in 1991.  I had read something about PELA and made a 10-hour drive to Cape Cod from Washington, DC, knowing little else. I was sold on PELA as soon as I heard Paul do the “roll call of the States” and speak on “just cause.” But the thing about Paul was that when we were introduced, he talked about how thrilled he was to meet me because I had written a book on pension law, and he had represented the employees in some of the cases in the book — one of which was the only case where employees, rather than the employer, ever recovered “surplus” assets after a company shut down a pension plan.

And then there was Paul’s support and commitment on projects. When Paul arranged for me to speak in Cincinnati a couple of years later at an Ohio PELA conference on ERISA, he didn’t just ask, he picked me up at the airport, had lunch with me, … Read More

Two days before Paul Tobias passed away, I called Phyllis Tobias to check on Paul and see how they both were doing.

Phyllis informed me that Paul had Alzheimer’s and was at an assisted living facility where she visited him daily. Not surprisingly, Phyllis explained that Paul was still Paul. He was upbeat and gracious, and friendly with all his health care providers and other patients.

Phyllis asked me if I could share a memory of Paul that she could share with Paul the very next day. I told Phyllis I had many great memories of Paul, but here is one he might not remember.

In the early days, Paul came to Washington, D.C., to help us organize as NELA lawyers. We gathered a good number of plaintiffs’ employment lawyers, and Paul gave his usual enthusiastic, energetic pitch for how we could all better serve our clients, help our practices, and advance workers’ rights if we all work together. Paul then turned to me and introduced me to the assembled lawyers. Paul said, “I want you to listen to Bruce Fredrickson, who is one of the giants of the plaintiffs’ employment bar.”

As I stand 5 foot 6, I turned … Read More

I’ll never forget my first meeting with Paul Tobias.  I suspect that’s true of every other NELA members who had the privilege of being a friend of Paul, working with Paul or just meeting Paul at a NELA convention.

One of Paul’s many roles was to be a Johnny Appleseed of plaintiffs’ employment law.  He loved to plant the seeds from which whole forests of warriors of fighters for employment rights have grown.

In 1985, some people talked about the need for an organization of, by and for plaintiffs’ employment lawyers.  Paul made it happen.  Later, some talked about the need for a non-profit organization supporting the cause of workers’ rights, especially for non-unionized workers.  Paul made Workplace Fairness happen.  Some thought it would be a good idea to learn about employees’ rights internationally.  Paul made that happen, too.  The list goes on and on.

Paul didn’t just tell people these were good ideas.  He was a happy warrior.  He loved to engage with people, to urge them enthusiastically to take up the cause and to have a good time doing it.  That is why he started every NELA convention, for decades, with a roll call of the states.  Not … Read More

I’ve really struggled since learning of his death just how to describe Paul Tobias’ impact on my life, as the individual who has probably had the single greatest impact on it, perhaps even more so than my parents. The twenty-two years I spent with NELA and Workplace Fairness, two organizations he founded and remained involved with for many years, have shaped me in immeasurable ways as an employment lawyer, advocate for employees, and human being. Here are just a few:

1) It is perfectly fine to charge ahead without figuring out all the details: so many times Paul had just a kernel of an idea, but look what that led to: NELA and Workplace Fairness….both thriving today and leading to millions of workers being helped in small and large ways.

2) If you don’t have all the details figured out, surround yourself with good people who will figure them out for you. Between Phyllis Tobias, Patty Losacker, and Teri Chaw, look what Paul was able to accomplish in his lifetime! How many things started on the side of his desk and found their way to reality?

3) Always be kind and assume best intentions. I saw Paul … Read More

Paul was an extraordinary person.  We will not soon see his like again.

He was quite simply a wonderful human being: warm, generous, gracious, engaging, kind, caring, funny, humble, passionate, enthusiastic, committed, tenacious, smart, quirky … and more.  And of course, he was a wonderful lawyer and leader.  He hated injustice and unfairness, and he devoted his professional life to helping “the little guy” against those with more power – as he put it so often, David versus Goliath.

I was very fortunate to be Paul’s friend and mentee.  He changed my life in many ways, professionally and personally. 

NELA is the “lengthened shadow” of Paul Tobias, and it will carry forward his vision and attributes long after his departure. He embedded in NELA his attributes of collegiality, caring, sharing, passion, and commitment. For those who may not know the story, I have appended a short history of Paul’s role in starting and building NELA (and Workplace Fairness), told from my personal perspective.

Paul changed the lives of literally countless others, and his impact will continue to ripple outward for a long time. What a legacy!

He personally touched hundreds of employee-side lawyers: those he encouraged to help start and … Read More