Speaker

Melodie Craft is an employment and labor lawyer with a master’s degree in human resources and industrial relations and over 17 years of experience strategically counseling and successfully defending employers on all aspects of the employment and labor relationship. Melodie routinely defends employers in complex employment litigation in both state and federal courts and administrative agencies throughout the country. Her experience includes litigation in both the nationwide-based class and collective action as well as the individual single plaintiff contexts. She has successfully represented clients on appeal, presenting winning oral and written arguments before the appellate courts.

Melodie has built a reputation for providing employers with timely and pragmatic advice and strategic solutions. Melodie counsels companies regarding employment law issues on high stakes issues as well as daily advice. Her additional master's degree in human resources and industrial relations, her pursuit of a strategic decision and risk management certificate from Stanford University, and her extensive experience in employment and labor law provide her a special perspective on the issues faced by management, boards of directors, in-house attorneys, and human resources representatives, in addition to the ability to provide effective strategic advice and counseling. She frequently provides counsel on issues such as:

• Executive agreements
• Employee compensation
• Unfair competition, restrictive covenants, trade secrets
• Contractual and business practices issues, reductions-in-force
• Compliance, training, employment policy, procedure development, implementation, and audits
• Day-to-day labor and employment matters, such as hiring and firing, employee discipline and termination, worker leaves of absence, and discrimination and harassment allegations

Besides successfully litigating in state and federal courts across the country, Melodie has handled administrative matters before federal agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Department of Labor (DOL), National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and state governmental agencies throughout the United States. She has handled administrative matters including but not limited to the following issues:

• Compensation
• Discrimination
• Harassment
• Wrongful discharge
• Retaliation
• Employee leave and disability
• Safety
• Sarbanes-Oxley
• Union issues (including representation elections, grievances, collective bargaining and unfair labor practice proceedings)

Melodie is a frequent speaker and trainer and has presented on many employment-related topics including litigation avoidance, class action defense and strategy, discrimination and harassment, wage and hour issues, compliance, trade secrets and restrictive covenants, and conducting lawful investigations to such groups as the Association of Corporate Counsel, Chambers of Commerce, and various Bar Associations and Human Resources groups. She has also contributed to numerous books and publications on employment law topics.