Pennsylvania Race Pits Corporate Defender Against Union Organizer

Ryan Crosswell maintains that he never participated in union busting during his law career. Credit: Crosswell for Congress

https://prospect.org/2026/04/28/pennsylvania-congressional-race-pits-corporate-defender-crosswell-against-union-organizer/

Ryan Crosswell is running to represent Pennsylvania’s Seventh District after a career helping bosses fight their workers.

Whitney Curry Wimbish by Whitney Curry Wimbish April 28, 2026

Ryan Crosswell, a Democratic candidate running for Pennsylvania’s Seventh Congressional District, has insisted for months that he never participated in any union-busting campaigns as an attorney at the largest “union avoidance” law firm in the country.

But new documents obtained by the Prospect show that he undertook numerous anti-worker cases. During his three-year tenure at the notorious firm Littler Mendelson, Crosswell quashed workers’ claims of sexual harassment and discrimination for multiple clients, including the financial juggernaut Citicorp, now Citigroup; the multinational medical technology company Becton, Dickinson and Co.; fintech company Mediant Communications; and Sharp Electronics Corporation. He also defended Walmart against a Black customer who claimed that a manager discriminated against him and wrongly called the cops to kick him out of the store.

Crosswell did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for his campaign refuted the idea that Crosswell was dissembling.

“The actual facts here don’t lie,” the spokesperson said. “Ryan worked early in his career at a very large law firm; he himself never worked on a case that involved union busting. He left that job over a decade ago to join the Department of Justice under President Obama. As a prosecutor, he worked to protect our country from fraudsters, child predators, and corrupt politicians, until the day that Donald Trump tried to force him to drop a case against one of his cronies. Ryan is pro-worker through and through and will have workers’ backs now and when he’s elected to Congress.”

FULL story at link above.