Carol is a Director with Coats Rose and has been practicing law for more than nineteen years. She is Board Certified in Labor and Employment Law, and specializes in complex litigation including employment/labor, insurance coverage, bad faith/extra-contractual, property damage and commercial business law. Carol also focuses on representing management in labor and employment law litigation, contract negotiations, and arbitrations. She has represented clients before administrative agencies, such as OSHA, the Department of Labor, the Department of Justice, the EEOC, the Texas Commissions on Human Rights and Texas Workforce Commission. Carol has handled appeals to the Fifth Circuit, State Courts of Appeals, and the Texas Supreme Court.
Before launching her legal career, Carol earned a Master’s Degree in Education with a specialty in reading problems, and worked with handicapped children in both New York and Texas as a Special Education teacher.
Carol specializes in representing employers in all areas of labor and employment law. She provides consultation, practical resolutions of employee issues and successful representation of employers both at the administrative, federal and state court levels. The areas set out below emphasize her broad experience:
- Defended cases alleging discrimination, retaliation, harassment, including cases with class and collective allegations.
- Defended high-ranking corporate executives accused by employees of sexual assault and fraud.
- Coordinated, conducted, and assisted with the resolutions of numerous confidential investigations involving alleged executive misconduct, investigations into claims of sexual harassment, sexual assault, company-wide discrimination, fraud and federal criminal immigration hiring and harboring allegations.
- Report to members of executive management, boards of directors and audit committees on issues involving allegations of corporate or executive misconduct.
- Defended employers in collective wage and hour cases.
- Conducts audits of employers’ workplace practices and policies, as well as I-9 and hiring/promotion audits, and wage and hour assessments and audits.
- Successfully resolved Commissioner’s Charges claiming ADA, Race, Sex, Age, Ethnicity.
- First-chaired numerous trials in both state and federal court, including:
- An age discrimination case arising out of a reduction in force
- FLSA collective action
- Case for COBRA benefits under ERISA
- WARN action following a reduction in force
- Claims against former employees/competitors under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, trade secret laws, and other unfair competition laws
- Cases involving claims of exposure to a sexually hostile working environment, sexual assault, sex discrimination and retaliation, and employment torts
- Workers’ compensation retaliation case
- Race discrimination and racial harassment cases that also include claims of retaliation and allegations of derogatory racial remarks
- Equal Pay Act cases o fraud and negligent misrepresentation claims
- Breach of contract claims
- Argued before the Texas Supreme Court, many Texas courts of appeals, the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 5th Circuit and federal district courts.
- Provides management training designed to prevent employment litigation or other employment disputes, and provides advice and counseling regarding employment contracts, reductions-in-force, audits, hiring, severance packages and agreements.
- Has spoken frequently on a variety of employment law topics, including harassment, discrimination, wage and hour issues, class and collective actions, trial and motion tactics and strategy, protection and theft of trade secrets, non-compete agreements, and developments and trends in employment law.
College of New Rochelle (B.A., 1973)
State University of New York at New Paltz (M.S., 1976)
South Texas College of Law (J.D., cum laude, 1991)
1991, Texas
All Texas State, Appellate, Texas Supreme Court
U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
U.S. District Court, Southern, Northern, Eastern, and Western Districts of Texas
Federal Bar
American Bar Association (Tort Insurance Practice Section and Labor & Employment Section)
State Bar of Texas (Insurance and Litigation Sections)
Houston Bar Association (Litigation and Labor & Employment Sections)
Texas Women Lawyers
Association of Women Attorneys
Society for Human Resources Management
Fifth Circuit Bar Association (Insurance Law Section)
- “2007 Legal Update for Employment Law”
- “Secrets to Avoiding Traps in Hiring and Job Offers”
- “The Mystery of Exempt and Non-Exempt Employees”
- “Hot Legal Issues Updated II, The Sequel"
- “FMLA – The Works”
- “Background Checks/Negligent Hiring”
- “Disciplining and Firing Employees – Don’t brag about your lightening pace, slow but steady wins the race”
- “Family Matters Hit Home for Employers”
- “Tips for Conducting Background Checks”
- “Interviews – Legal Landmines – Don’t Step on Them”
- “WSI-HR as Detective Referee, Diplomat and Decision Maker In-House Investigations”
- Sexual Harassment Pitfalls for the Unwary in the Construction Industry
- Problem Issues in CGL
(Additional Insureds and Contractual Liability)
- “The Tip of the Iceberg: What Builders Need to Know”
- Presentations for Employers: 2004 – 2006
- “Taking the Right Turn on the Hazardous Employment Highway”
- “The Right Documentation: What You Don’t Say Can Hurt You."
- “Workplace Harassment”
- “FLSA Update on New Regulations”
- “Disability: What’s An Employer To Do?”
- “Arbitration of Employment Claims. Is it the Best Choice for Your Company"
- “Obvious Litigation Danger: The Older Workforce”
- “Employer Dilemma: Employee Handbooks, Manuals or Policies – Help or Hindrance?”
- “Sherlock Holmes or Barney Fife: Employee Investigations and a Right to Privacy”
- “HIPAA – It’s Not a Large, Wild River Animal Found in Africa”
- “Hot Legal Issues Update: If You Can’t Stand the Heat, Then Stay Out of the Courtroom – Don’t Get Burned”
- “Negotiating the Worker’s Compensation Maze: Don’t Add Insult to an Injury”
- “The Employee Handbook: Is Your Employee Handbook Looking Like a Worn Out Shoe, or Does it Just Need Some Fine Tuning?” (The 2006 Employee Handbook Update and Tips to Start Your New Year Off Right)
- “Terminations, Firing, and Separation Agreements - Cutting Off the Path to the Courthouse”
- “Facebook, Twitter, and Other Social Media Pitfalls for the Employer”