Overview

Chelsea Olson Murphy is a Partner at Lozano Smith. Her practice focuses on providing counsel to school districts and county offices of education in the areas of governance and labor and employment.

Experience

Specifically, Ms. Olson Murphy advises school districts and county offices of education on a variety of legal matters including employee discipline and dismissal, benefits, leaves of absence and the interactive process, contract administration, conflicts of interest, the Brown Act, and the California Public Records Act.

In addition, Ms. Olson Murphy is an experienced workplace investigator and regularly conducts investigations for both public agencies and private companies. She is experienced in investigating complaints of sexual harassment, discrimination and hostile work environment.

Ms. Olson Murphy also provides legal advice in a variety of other areas including student discipline and constitutional issues. She represents clients in grievances, unfair practices and civil writs and appeals. Ms. Olson Murphy previously served as a judicial clerk for the Honorable Simeon R. Acoba at the Supreme Court of Hawaii.

Presenter Experience

Ms. Olson Murphy is a frequent speaker on behalf of leading associations, including the California School Boards Association (CSBA) and the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA). Among others, she frequently conducts presentations on employee personnel issues including employee leaves, successfully navigating the interactive and reasonable accommodation process and sexual harassment prevention training for employees, supervisors and boards.

Education

Ms. Olson Murphy earned her law degree from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law and her B.A. from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

California Equal Pay Act: New Rules on Pay Transparency, Record-Keeping, and Pay Data Reporting

By: Chelsea Olson Murphy, Jaspreet Lochab-Dogra- 04/12/2023

Cal/OSHA's Enforcement and Citation Powers Expand Under SB 606

By: Chelsea Olson Murphy- 02/17/2022

Ethnic Studies to Become a Required High School Course

By: Chelsea Olson Murphy, Joshua Whiteside- 11/29/2021

A Return to Sports? California Interscholastic Federation Issues Guidelines for Return to Physical Activity and Training

By: Edward Sklar, Chelsea Olson Murphy- 07/10/2020

Episode 54 Best Practices in Managing Disruptions at School Board Meetings

By: Chelsea Olson Murphy, Roman Muñoz- 04/19/2022

Managing school board meetings in the face of disruption created by parents, employees, and members of the public can be challenging. This podcast will explore best practices to regulate this disruption and create rules and de-escalation techniques to ensure an orderly meeting. To explore this timely topic, co-host Joshua Whiteside introduces a discussion on point between local governance experts and Lozano Smith partners, Roman Muñoz from the Sacramento office and Chelsea Olson Murphy from the San Luis Obispo office.

Return to School in the COVID-19 Era - Student Athletics Issues (Part 3)

By: Ruth Mendyk, Chelsea Olson Murphy- 08/04/2020

Host Sloan Simmons talks with Lozano Smith attorneys Ruth Mendyk and Chelsea Olson Murphy about the latest developments on COVID-19 and student athletics, with a focus on the most recent guidance from the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), as well as other state public health directives and guidance heading into the 2020-2021 school year.