Emphasis
Harassment & Discrimination Prevention Training
Executive Coaching
Strategic Diversity Management Training
Workplace Violence Prevention
Train-the-Trainer & Train-the-Investigator Training
Canadian Employment Law
Biography
Ms. Thomas has dedicated most of her legal career to providing companies with proactive workforce training and education programs. She designs and presents such programs to assist companies in avoiding employment-related litigation while emphasizing employee retention and development. Her seminars and workshops are consistently described as comprehensive, enlightening, interactive and captivating. Ms. Thomas has also developed considerable experience in delivering effective, one-on-one executive sensitivity counseling programs.
Ms. Thomas has also defended numerous employers, both before agencies and the courts, against claims of wrongful termination, discrimination and harassment on the bases of gender, age, national origin, race, color, and disability, as well as retaliation. She has developed and reviewed employee handbooks, policies, and practices for numerous clients in both the private and public sectors.
Before joining Littler Mendelson, Ms. Thomas practiced law with a prestigious law firm in Ohio, where she represented, counseled and trained employers in a range of industries that include higher education, manufacturing, construction, government, insurance, professional services and healthcare.
Prior to her legal career, Ms. Thomas was a human resource executive with an international business development corporation. In that position, she addressed many of the legal issues facing the companies she now advises and trains.
Education
Facilitator Certification in Strategic Diversity Management, Roosevelt Thomas Consulting & Training Institute, Atlanta, Georgia, 2003
LL.B., University of Windsor/University of Detroit-Mercy School of Law, Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan, 1996
Certificate in Human Resources Management, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, 1993
B.A., McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, 1989
Lectures & Presentations
Ms. Thomas has been a regular speaker on topics that include sexual harassment, strategic diversity management, workplace violence prevention, and emerging technologies and workplace privacy, for professional associations, human resource groups, trade groups, universities, and attorney bar associations throughout the country.
Activities
American Bar Association (including its Labor and Employment Section)
Society of Human Resource Management
American Society for Training and Development
Cases/Courts/Judges
Ms. Thomas is admitted to practice in Ohio, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Ms. Thomas is also admitted to practice in the Law Society of Upper Canada (Ontario) and the Court of Appeals in Ontario.