W. Kirk Turner

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(918) 574-3008 | kirk.turner@mcafeetaft.com | Tulsa
Bio Menu
  • Overview
  • Honors & Involvement
Bio overview

For more than 30 years, Kirk Turner has represented companies and management exclusively in all aspects of labor and employment law, with a specific emphasis on litigation before federal and state courts, regulatory and administrative agencies, and in arbitration matters. He has particularly extensive experience defending employers in discrimination, harassment and civil rights matters, and routinely represents management in proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Department of Labor, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

As part of his comprehensive labor and employment practice, one of Kirk’s passions is helping corporate clients manage their risks and ensure safe, compliant workplaces by providing on-site workforce training.  He holds the distinction of having one of the most active live, in-person training practices in the region and is particularly regarded for his engaging, interactive presentation style and his ability to effectively break down and communicate complex legal concepts and other workplace topics in ways that resonate with front-line employees, supervisors and managers, and HR professionals and executive alike.  He is frequently engaged to develop and customize training programs on a wide variety of topics, including leadership skills, anti-discrimination and anti-harassment, interviewing and hiring, discipline and termination, employee rights and protections under state and federal law, drug and alcohol testing, employee handbooks and enforcement of company policies, wage and hour issues, and workplace safety.

Kirk’s client list includes employers from virtually every major industry across the country. His experience in defending thousands of cases over his career makes Kirk a valued partner in helping clients navigate through and obtain successful results in litigation and other employment-related challenges.

Kirk has previously served as leader of the firm’s Labor and Employment Group, one of the largest of its kind in the region.

In addition to his private practice, Kirk has served in leadership positions for a significant number of professional industry groups on a local, state and national level. He has served on the board of directors for the Tulsa Area Human Resources Association (TAHRA) for two decades, previously served as the organization’s president in 2002-2003, and currently serves as its general counsel and vice president of legislative affairs. He served five terms as the vice president of legislative affairs and general counsel for the Oklahoma State Council for Human Resource Management, an affiliate of the Society for Human Resource Management, and is a past board member of the Tulsa Equal Employment Opportunity Coordinators’ Association. Kirk has served on the State Chamber of Oklahoma’s Human Resources Committee and Legislative Affairs Committee, been a member of the National Employee and Labor Relations Committee for the Society for Human Resource Management, and has served as general counsel for the Tulsa Better Business Bureau.  He currently serves as general counsel for WorkForce Tulsa.

Kirk’s achievements have earned him inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America (employment law–management; labor law–management; labor and employment litigation), Oklahoma Super Lawyers (“Top 50 Oklahoma Lawyers”), and Chambers USA Guide to America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, where he has been recognized for his “impressive litigation practice” as well as his specialized knowledge of labor and employment issues affecting the motor dealership industry.

Prior to joining McAfee & Taft, Kirk served as a director and the leader of the Labor & Employment Law Group at Newton, O’Connor, Turner & Ketchum, a law firm he co-founded in 1995.

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Experience, Honors, & Awards

Honors and Awards

  • Listed in the Chambers USA Guide to America’s Leading Lawyers for Business
  • Named a “Labor & Employment Star – South” by Benchmark Litigation
  • Consistently selected by peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America (employment law—management; labor law—management; labor and employment litigation)
  • Regularly listed in Oklahoma Super Lawyers
  • Named to Oklahoma Super Lawyers’ list of “Top 50 Lawyers”
  • Rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings
  • Honored with the Oklahoma State Council for Human Resources Management Excellence Award (2007)
  • Honored with the Tulsa Area Human Resources Association’s Excellence award (2003)
  • Honored with the Tulsa Area Human Resources Association’s President’s Award (2001)

Professional Organizations and Memberships

  • Tulsa County Bar Association (Labor & Employment Law Section)
  • Oklahoma Bar Association (Labor & Employment Law Section)
  • Arkansas Bar Association (Labor & Employment Law Section)
  • American Bar Association (Labor & Employment Law Section)
  • Tulsa Area Human Resources Association (General Counsel and Vice President of Legislative Affairs)
  • Tulsa Equal Employment Opportunity Coordinators’ Association (Former Board Member)
  • Oklahoma State Council for Human Resources Management (Former Legislative Affairs Director and General Counsel)
  • Society for Human Resource Management (National Employee and Labor Relations Committee)
  • Tulsa Automobile Dealers Association (Former Executive Director and General Counsel)
  • National Association of Dealers Counsel

Civic Involvement and Leadership

  • Metro Tulsa Chamber of Commerce, Board of Advisors
  • Metro Tulsa Chamber of Commerce, Labor and HR Advocacy Task Force/OneVoice
  • Better Business Bureau of Tulsa (Former General Counsel)
  • WorkForce Tulsa (General Counsel)
  • State Chamber of Oklahoma (Member, Human Resources Committee and Legislative Affairs Committee)

ATPs display in this column

At The Podium

Do or Do Not, There is No Try: Getting the FLSA Right

EmployerLINC23: HR in Reel Life
Tulsa, OK | March 30, 2023

The Incredibles: Labor & Employment “Ask the Experts” Panel

EmployerLINC23: HR in Reel Life
Tulsa, OK | March 30, 2023

Ethical Issues in the 21st Century Legal World

Oklahoma Business Ethics Consortium
Oklahoma City, OK | March 22, 2023

Employment Compliance Strategies for a Changing Workforce

2022 Corporate Counsel Seminar
Tulsa, OK | December 7, 2022

ADA: Helpful Hints for Tricky Situations

EmployerLINC22
Tulsa, OK | March 23, 2022

Ask the Experts: Labor & Employment Panel

EmployerLINC22
Tulsa, OK | March 23, 2022

ADA: Helpful Hints for Tricky Situations

EmployerLINC22
Oklahoma City, OK | March 22, 2022

Vaccine Mandate Update

MidAmerica Business Leaders Association
Pryor, OK | February 9, 2022

Stump the Lawyer: Everything you wanted to ask a lawyer, but didn’t want to pay for!

Tulsa Area Human Resources Association
Tulsa, OK | December 9, 2021

Legal Updates for HR Professionals

Tulsa Area Human Resources Association
Tulsa, OK | August 18, 2021

Employment Law Year in Review

EmployerLINC21
Online | March 10, 2021

Game Changers: Tips for employee engagement, accountability and results

Tulsa Small Business Summit
Online | September 8, 2020

Manager and Supervisor Workshop

TAHRA Supervisor Training
Online | August 20, 2020

COVID-19 and Employment Law Updates

Tulsa Area Human Resources Association
Online | August 19, 2020

Avoiding wage and hour pitfalls during the pandemic

McAfee & Taft Webinar Series
June 10, 2020

Life Preservers and Safety Nets: Returning to Work and Staying Afloat in COVID-19’s Wake

TAHRA Learning Lab Webinar
Online | May 28, 2020

Navigating the COVID-19 pandemic: Critical legal issues for employers

TulsaHRC
Online | April 16, 2020

From Uncertainty to Insight: COVID-19 Employer Implications on Health & Retirement Plans

Summit Financial Webinar
Online | April 9, 2020

The Most Amazing Employment Law Updates You Will Ever Hear Today

2019 Corporate Counsel Seminar
Tulsa, OK | December 4, 2019

Stump the Lawyer: What Are Your Burning Employment Law Questions?

2019 TAHRA Employment Law & Practices Seminar
Tulsa, OK | November 7, 2019

Navigating the FLSA Minefield

Muskogee Area Human Resources Association
Muskogee, OK | October 25, 2019

Recent Developments in Labor and Employment Law

Tulsa Area Human Resources Association
Broken Arrow, OK | August 21, 2019

Manager and Supervisor Workshop

Tulsa Area Human Resources Association
Broken Arrow, OK | August 21, 2019

Navigating the FLSA minefield

McAfee & Taft Webinar Series
August 21, 2019

Crisis Management: What do we do when “it” hits the fan?

2019 Regional Corporate Counsel Seminar
Springdale, AR | July 25, 2019

Medical Marijuana: Maintaining a safe workplace

McAfee & Taft Webinar Series
Online | May 15, 2019

Medical Marijuana: Maintaining a safe workplace

MEPO of Oklahoma
Oklahoma City, OK | May 1, 2019

#MeToo: Now What?

TulsaHRC
Tulsa, OK | April 10, 2019

Managing Drugs in the Workplace

Green Country Chapter of Credit Unions
Tulsa, OK | April 8, 2019

Dazed and Confused: Managing drugs in the workplace

EmployerLINC19
Tulsa, OK | April 4, 2019

Dazed and Confused: Managing drugs in the workplace

EmployerLINC19
Oklahoma City, OK | April 3, 2019

Medical Marijuana in the Workplace: Best practices for Oklahoma employers

2018 Corporate Counsel Seminar
Oklahoma City, OK | December 6, 2018

ICYMI: 2018 Employment and Labor Law Update

2018 Corporate Counsel Seminar
Tulsa, OK | December 4, 2018

Stump the Lawyer

TAHRA Employment Law & Practices Seminar
Tulsa, OK | November 1, 2018

Medical Marijuana: Next steps for Oklahoma employers

Broken Arrow Chamber of Commerce
Broken Arrow, OK | September 12, 2018

Medical Marijuana: Next steps for Oklahoma employers

AGC of Oklahoma
Tulsa, OK | July 25, 2018

Medical Marijuana: An Action Plan for Employers

McAfee & Taft Webinar Series
Online | July 19, 2018

Medical Marijuana in the Oklahoma Workplace

McAfee & Taft Webinar Series
Online | May 10, 2018

Leadership: An Employment Lawyer’s Perspective

LEADHR OKHR 2018 Conference & Expo
Tulsa, OK | April 25, 2018

Attributes of Leadership in the Workplace: A lawyer’s perspective

OKHR 2018 Conference & Expo
Tulsa, OK | April 25, 2018

Keeping Up with Recent Development in Employment Law: Keys to HR compliance

Tulsa Equal Employment Opportunity Coordinators Association
Tulsa, OK | April 4, 2018

Stump the Lawyer

TAHRA Employment Law & Practices Seminar
Tulsa, OK | November 2, 2017
Attorney Articles

Articles

America Labor Unions

Nationwide Right to Unionize Act reintroduced

McAfee & Taft EmployerLINC |
Employee Retaliation

DOL issues new guidance to employers warning about retaliation

McAfee & Taft EmployerLINC |
Health and safety procedures paperwork

OSHA withdraws ETS as it moves toward permanent regulatory solution

McAfee & Taft EmployerLINC Alert |
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA)

Department of Labor’s revised FFCRA regulations are now in effect

McAfee & Taft EmployerLINC |
U.S. Supreme Court declares Title VII prohibits LGBTQ employment discrimination

Flexibility, creativity, compliance needed

The Journal Record |

Get familiar with new overtime exemption rules

Tulsa World |

Breaking News: DOL (finally) publishes new overtime exemption rule

McAfee & Taft EmployerLINC |

DOL proposes new increased salary thresholds for overtime exemptions

McAfee & Taft EmployerLINC Alert |
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Industry Groups

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Admissions

  • Oklahoma, 1989
  • Arkansas, 2006
  • U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Western and Eastern Districts of Oklahoma
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
  • U.S. District Courts for the Western and Eastern Districts of Arkansas
  • U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fifth and Tenth Circuits
  • U.S. Tax Court
  • U.S. Supreme Court
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Education

  • J.D., University of Arkansas, 1989
  • B.S., Arkansas Tech University, 1986
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In The News

Graphic featuring a blue background blended with Leadership Square exterior photo and the Super Lawyers 2022 logo
Best Lawyers names 128 McAfee & Taft lawyers to 2023 lists
McAfee & Taft honored as top-ranked firm by Chambers USA 2022
Super Lawyers 2021
Best Lawyers 2022

McAfee & Taft honored as top-ranked firm by Chambers USA 2021, 33 attorneys singled out for individual honors

Oklahoma Super Lawyers honors 93 McAfee & Taft attorneys in 2020 edition

McAfee & Taft, 23 attorneys honored in 2021 edition of Benchmark Litigation

COVID-19 Return to Work Packages for Employers

Expect more procedures, policies when back to work

The Oklahoman |

Chambers USA 2020 honors McAfee & Taft as top-ranked firm, 32 attorneys singled out for individual honors

McAfee & Taft names three new practice leaders for 2020

McAfee & Taft’s Corporate Counsel 2019 Seminar draws hundreds of in-house lawyers

Oklahoma Super Lawyers honors 101 McAfee & Taft attorneys in 2019 edition

Chambers USA 2019 honors McAfee & Taft as top‑ranked firm

EmployerLINC19 draws largest audiences ever in Oklahoma City and Tulsa

Oklahoma Super Lawyers honors 113 McAfee & Taft attorneys in 2018 edition

The Best Lawyers in America names 107 McAfee & Taft attorneys to 2019 edition

Chambers USA 2018 honors McAfee & Taft as top-ranked firm, 35 attorneys singled out for individual honors

Five former Newton O’Connor attorneys join McAfee & Taft

The Journal Record |

Kirk Turner, litigation team join McAfee & Taft