Blunt appoints Labor, Employment heads

Gov. Matt Blunt on March 22 appointed Tom Deuschle as director of the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. The Labor and Industrial Relations Commission presented Deuschle as its nominee for the position. His appointment is subject to confirmation by the Missouri Senate.
“I am pleased Tom Deuschle has agreed to return to Jefferson City to oversee the needs of Missouri’s employers and employees,” Blunt said in a news release.
Deuschle, 47, of Liberty, previously served as Missouri’s Division of Employment Security Director. Most recently, he worked for the U.S. Department of Labor as the regional director of Job Corps under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. A Sedalia native, Deuschle holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Central Missouri State University.
The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations works to provide employees with safe, healthy workplaces by promoting equal access to jobs, enforcing anti-discrimination laws and awarding compensation to eligible workers. Interim Director Katharine Barondeau will now serve the department as the Division of Employment Security director.
“Katharine Barondeau’s broad-based experience will be an asset to the Division of Employment Security,” Blunt said.
Barondeau, 44, of Ashland, has served as director of corporations and assistant general counsel for the Missouri Secretary of State’s office, as legislative analyst for the Missouri House of Representatives and as assistant counsel for the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission. Barondeau holds a law degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a bachelor’s degree in sociology and psychology from North Dakota State University.