We gratefully acknowledge the generous contributions of our Sustaining Members. For information about joining AWI in general, and about becoming a Sustaining Member in particular, please visit the Join AWI page of this website.
Nancy Bornn is a named partner in Bornn & Surls, a Manhattan Beach employment law firm. She has over 30 years of experience as an employment lawyer, litigating, arbitrating, mediating, teaching, writing, investigating workplaces, and testifying as an expert on employment matters. Ms. Bornn is a Governor of of the Board of Governors of The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. She is a former Chair of the Labor & Employment Law Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. She is a former Chair of the California Employment Lawyers Association, and now serves on its Advisory Council. Ms. Bornn also served as an Executive Board member (2002-2008) of the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA) and currently sits on its Governance Committee. Ms. Bornn has published numerous articles in the area of employment law and is the author of the legal treatise, Representing California Sexual Harassment Plaintiffs (James Publishing 2004), updated in part in 2007 (Bornn & Surls 2007).
Barry Chersky is a trainer and consultant focusing on civil rights issues in the San Francisco Bay Area and nationally. For more than 20 years he has presented training on preventing discrimination, harassment and retaliation in a variety of workplace settings. He has conducted investigations on behalf of employers in a wide range of industries including entertainment, biotechnology, insurance, financial services, legal, and medical, in workplaces ranging from small non-profits to labor unions to multinational corporations. He has served as an expert witness in several court cases which included the evaluation of investigation practices. Since 2007 he has served as the Senior Human Resources Consultant at Saint Mary’s College of California where he conducts internal investigations. Mr. Chersky is a private investigator licensed by the State of California.
Walter Cochran-Bond is a graduate of the UCLA School of Law. During the first fourteen years of his practice, Walter litigated civil rights class actions in Los Angeles with the Center for Law in the Public Interest and in private practice, serving as class counsel in more than twenty employment and housing discrimination cases. In 1988, Walter joined the national law firm of Proskauer Rose LLP. In 1997, Walter started his current practice. This practice includes representing both individuals and employers in employment-related lawsuits as well as providing employment counseling. Walter also is a member of the Employment Law Panel of the American Arbitration Association and serves as an arbitrator and mediator for employment disputes.
Barbara Dalton is an attorney, licensed private investigator, and Vice President of Public Interest Investigations, Inc. She specializes in conducting neutral, third-party investigations into allegations of employment discrimination. She has supervised and conducted investigations of employee and employer misconduct, wage and hour violations, and wrongful termination claims. Prior to joining PII, Dalton was part of the team of attorneys who monitored Denny's restaurants for customer-based discrimination complaints. Denny's ultimately adopted the investigative model designed and used by Dalton and her colleagues during the monitoring period. Dalton also played an integral part in the creation and direction of an independently administered system of arbitration for Kaiser Permanente members throughout California. She served as an attorney with the HIV and AIDS Legal Services Alliance, where she assisted clients with matters involving discrimination, confidentiality, and health care access, and conducted trainings on those topics.
Susan K. Hatmaker received her B.S. cum laude, from the California State University at Fresno in 1991. She received her J.D. with Distinction from the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law in 1994. She is admitted to practice law in the State of California and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California and is a partner in Sutton Hatmaker Law Corporation in Fresno, California. Ms. Hatmaker is a member of the Fresno County Women Lawyers, the Fresno County Bar Association as well as the California Association of Workplace Investigators. She has provided representation of school districts in charter school law and is a frequent speaker and author on labor and employment law issues.
Pamela L. Hemminger is an arbitrator, mediator, investigator and trainer. She is on the American Arbitration Association employment panel (Southern California) and a mediator with expertise in complex, class action, and individual cases. She also represents employers and employees, particularly executives. An employment law partner of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP for many years before recently retiring, she is a past chair of the Labor and Employment Law Section, Los Angeles County Bar Association, a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, a Board member of Dispute Resolution Services and a gubernatorial appointee to the California Law Revision Commission. She is a well-known author and speaker, including, as a contributor, Employment Discrimination Law (settlement), California Practice Guide: Employment Litigation (leaves of absence; worker safety) and EEOC Litigation and Charge Resolution (employer responses), and has been featured in The Best Lawyers in America and Top 50 Super Lawyers (Southern California).
Glen E. Kraemer, an employment lawyer since 1987, is a sought-after neutral fact-finder for both public and private sector organizations due to his extensive experience in training HR professionals and attorneys on conducting personnel investigations and a reputation for investigative thoroughness and fairness unaffected by his law practice defense emphasis. From claim intake, through effectice questioning techniques, credibility assessment, and critical documentation, Mr. Kramer has trained thousands of professionals on the art and practice of neutral investigation. In addition to investigating discrimination and harassment claims, Mr. Kraemer supervises and conducts review and assessment of workplace violence concerns, and is an active member of the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals. For seven years, he has served on the City of Los Angeles select panel of investigators concerning claims made against elected officials.
Karen Kramer is an employment law attorney specializing in workplace investigations. Since forming Kramer-Wiese in 2000, Ms. Kramer’s practice has focused primarily on conducting personnel investigations involving allegations of discrimination, harassment and retaliation, as well as misconduct and disciplinary matters. She previously litigated employment law matters with Porter Scott and worked as an Employment Law Attorney with LexisNexis. Ms. Kramer’s experience includes testifying during administrative and judicial proceedings regarding completed investigations. Ms. Kramer has conducted hundreds of workplace investigations for public agencies, and is well versed in the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights and the Firefighters Procedural Bill of Rights. She has also conducted many complex and high profile investigations involving high level public employees and elected officials. Ms. Kramer is a graduate of the University of California, Irvine (1989) and University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law (1992).
Carolyn Langenkamp is a partner and trial attorney in Langenkamp, Curtis & Price, LLP. She specializes in labor and employment, with an emphasis in employment discrimination litigation. She conducts sexual harassment investigations for employers and serves as an expert witness in employment litigation where the parties are disputing the efficacy of the employer’s response to a complaint of sexual harassment. She also serves as an expert witness in legal malpractice cases in which the underlying lawsuit is a labor and employment matter. She has trained hundreds of human resources professionals in how to conduct neutral thorough sexual harassment investigations. Ms. Langenkamp represents teachers through the California Teachers Association’s Group Legal Services program. She regularly lectures on recent developments in employment law for the California Continuing Education of the Bar. She serves on the Sacramento County Arbitration Committee and as a pro tem settlement judge for the Sacramento County Superior Court.
Stefan Miller is a California employment law attorney and is retained by both public and private entities (including public school districts) to serve as an objective and impartial fact-finder to investigate complaints of alleged workplace misconduct (including those filed with the DFEH and EEOC). Likewise, Mr. Miller regularly advises in-house human resource or other contacts regarding the conduct of such workplace investigations. Mr. Miller also delivers training workshops for HR professionals and members of management on conducting timely and thorough workplace investigations as well as variety of other employment and HR-related subjects. In addition, Mr. Miller counsels small and medium sized businesses on a day-to-day basis on all aspects of employment law & HR-related issues, including: the hiring/disciplinary/termination processes; leaves of absence; wage/hour matters; discrimination/harassment; and preparing employee handbooks, at-will offer letters, independent contractor agreements, non-disclosure & other trade secret protection agreements, performance management programs, etc.
Marilou F. Mirkovich is a partner in the Cerritos office of Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Rudd & Romo. She represents employers in all aspects of labor relations and employment law. Ms. Mirkovich focused on defending discrimination claims in federal and state courts and handles matters pending before the EEOC, DFEH, and FEHC. In addition to her employment practice, Ms. Mirkovich serves as the firm's lead investigator on numerous public and private sector matters. She served as President of the Board of Directors for the Community Family Guidance Center. She has been an active participant in the HIV and AIDS Legal Services Alliance (HALSA). Ms. Mirkovich has also been on the Board of Directors for the Friends of the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts.
Julie Moore Julie A. Moore is President of Employment Practices Group, a legal and human resources consulting firm in MA and NH which she founded in 1998. She has been practicing law for 20 years and previously litigated cases. Much of her practice is devoted to conducting investigations into alleged harassment and misconduct. She also conducts training for employers; drafts policies, procedures and handbooks; consults and advises on employment law and HR issues; and represents employers and employees before administrative agencies. Ms. Moore has over 100 publications and speaks at seminars for the MA Bar Ass'n, NH Bar Ass'n, Business and Legal Resources (BLR), local and regional SHRM chapters, and many business and trade organizations. She is a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR). She has been retained as an expert witness in cases involving a wide variety of employment-related issues, and has testified at trial in NH, MA and ME courts.
Lynn M. Morgenroth is the founder of CallMeHR.com, which provides Human Resources consulting services to a wide variety of clients in the high-tech, environmental, non-profit, manufacturing, transport and service industries. She holds a JD as well as an MBA and has over has over twenty years of extensive human resources and business management experience, both in-house as well as in a business consultant role. Her expertise includes: strategic business planning, management training, coaching and counseling, workplace investigations including DFEH and EEOC complaints, labor relations and negotiations, HR audits, employment law interpretation and compliance, policy and procedure development, performance management and recruiting.
Amy Oppenheimer has more than 25 years experience working in the field of employment law, emphasizing preventing and responding to workplace harassment and discrimination. As an attorney, she has litigated employment cases. Since 1992 she has acted as a neutral in a variety of capacities, including investigating claims of harassment and discrimination, training workplace investigators, mediation and arbitration. Amy is the author of many articles about harassment, bias and discrimination, including one of the only practical guides to doing investigations: Investigating Workplace Harassment, How to be Fair, Thorough and Legal, published in 2003 by Society of Human Resource Practice (SHRM). She is a trial qualified expert on the issue of employment practices in preventing, responding to and investigating workplace harassment and discrimination
Geralynn Patellaro is the legal director of Global Employment at NetApp, Inc., a global technology company currently ranked #5 of the "Best Companies to Work For" list by Fortune Magazine. Ms. Patellaro is also President of Building a Better Workplace, a Human Resources consulting firm in the San Francisco Bay Area. The firm counsels executives, managers, HR professionals, and employees in employment matters, and specializes in workplace investigations. The firm also presents interactive seminars in disability accommodation, harassment prevention, and workplace investigations. Ms. Patellaro offers a unique approach to HR challenges by leveraging her extensive and diverse experience as an attorney and business professional. Prior to her legal career, she worked for high profile technology companies as a SalesDirector, Marketing Director, and Sr. HR Director. As an attorney she worked for well regarded, national law firms. She is multi-lingual, holds an MBA, and is an active community volunteer.
Patti Perez is founder and President of Puente Consulting, Inc. Established in 2001, Puente, a full-service HR and employment law consulting firm, has become a strategic business partner for companies throughout the U.S. A graduate of UCLA School of Law and a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources, Ms. Perez has practiced employment law since 1992. A native Spanish speaker, she has worked as an employment litigator and an HR executive, has worked in Mexico with judicial education programs, and has trained thousands of HR, legal and other professionals. Her work at Puente includes providing strategic business advice, resolving workplace disputes, conducting investigations, providing compliance and other training, and conducting wage and hour audits. Ms. Perez chairs the State Bar Labor and Employment Section, and is a Commissioner on California's Fair Employment and Housing Commission where she adjudicates matters involving allegations of harassment, discrimination and retaliation in employment and housing.
Andrea Price is a partner in Langenkamp, Curtis & Price, LLP. She conducts neutral workplace investigations for employers, including sexual harassment, whistleblower, and retaliation allegations. She specializes in plaintiff-side labor, employment and education law, representing employees in a wide range of employment issues in state court, before private arbitrators and before the California State Office of Administrative Hearings. Ms. Price also represents employees in discrimination and retaliation claims under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). As a California Teachers Association Group Legal Services Attorney, she defends teachers in sexual harassment and retaliation investigations. She also provides training to teachers in preventing and protecting themselves and others from harassment, discrimination and retaliation. She defends teachers in layoff, tenure and discipline matters and enforces the Education Code rights of faculty and teachers in a variety of settings. She represents teachers in claims under the Federal Americans with Disabilities Act and Family and Medical Leave Act as well as under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act and the California Family Rights Act.
Cynthia Remmers practiced employment law for over 25 years as a partner and trial attorney at Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe and as in-house counsel at Intel Corporation before starting her full-time neutral practice. As the principal of Remmers Global, Cynthia investigates, mediates and arbitrates the full range of domestic and international employment issues. Cynthia has investigated countless high-value workplace matters to effective conclusion in her outside and inside counsel roles and as a neutral. At Intel, Cynthia also managed teams of internal investigators in Asia and the U.S., developed and delivered investigation training, and worked closely with internal audit and security investigators on a variety of challenging compliance matters. Cynthia is a Certified Compliance and Ethics Professional (CCEP) and member of the Society of Corporate Compiance and Ethics.
Michael A. Robbins is President of EXTTI, Incorporated. EXTTI provides Expert Testimony, Training and Investigation services in employment matters. He is a frequent lecturer and author on employment issues. Mr. Robbins has conducted over 250 workplace investigations and has served as an expert witness in close to 400 employment cases--mostly on investigation and interactive process issues. Prior to forming EXTTI, he was a Labor & Employment attorney for 20 years--including 4 years as in-house counsel and 16 years in two nationally recognized law firms. Mr. Robbins graduated Phi Beta Kappa from San Diego State University and received his JD degree from UCLA School of Law. He is a member of the Executive Board of the Los Angeles County Bar Association Labor & Employment Section, is a founding member and President of the Society of Independent Workplace Investigators (SIWI) and is a Charter Member of the Association of Workplace Investigators (AWI).
Keith Rohman is founder and president of Public Interest Investigations, Inc. A licensed private investigator, Mr. Rohman is a recognized expert in the investigations field, including workplace investigations. He serves on the Equity Oversight Panel (EOP) of the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department, which is a civilian oversight panel charged with monitoring Internal Affairs investigations at the Sheriffs Department. Mr. Rohman has also served as the Executive Director of the Office of Discrimination Investigation for the City of Los Angeles. In this role, he directed an investigative team responsible for conducting workplace investigations into hundreds of discrimination and retaliation complaints raised by City of Los Angeles employees. Following this project, Mr. Rohman made recommendations to the Los Angeles City Council, which led to the establishment of a new City agency to address EEO issues. Mr. Rohman is an adjunct professor at Loyola Law School where he teaches Fact Investigation. He has presented at CLE programs on a range of topics, including making credibility assessments, interview techniques, and conducting EEO investigations.
Daniel Rowley has represented employers and employees in a wide variety of employment law matters since 1985. His law practice includes consultation on employment matters, advising employers, and handling employment litigation, including discrimination, sexual harassment, wrongful termination, and wage and hour claims. In addition, Mr. Rowley performs neutral, independent investigations of workplace complaints and disputes. Mr. Rowley has performed more than 125 investigations for a variety of public and private employers. The investigations have included issues such as sexual harassment, hostile work environment, discrimination, corporate mismanagement, and possible violations of the Fair Political Practices Act
S. Brett Sutton received his B.A., summa cum laude, from Pepperdine University in 1986, and his J.D., cum laude, from Pepperdine University School of Law in 1989. He was a member of the Pepperdine Law Review and Moot Court Honors Board and was the Roger J. Traynor California Moot Court Champion and Pepperdine Trial Advocacy Tournament Champion. Mr. Sutton is the author of a variety of legal topics for law reviews and journals, a graduate of the Hastings College of Trial Advocacy and the National Institute of Trial Advocacy. He has served as an Adjunct Professor of both Civil Litigation and Evidence, and is Past President of the Greater Fresno County Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, a Board Member of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers Fresno County Chapter, and a Member of the Defense Research Institute. He is contributor to California Practice Guide: Employment Litigation (The Rutter Group), and has been designated as an Expert Witness in Employment Law. Mr. Sutton is a Sustaining Member of CAOWI, and a Member of the Fresno County and Los Angeles County Bar Associations. He is a frequent speaker and author on labor and employment law issues
Sue Ann VanDermyden is a founding partner of Van Dermyden Allison Law Corporation. She is a licensed California attorney specializing in employment law since 1993. After spending several years litigating employment matters in state and federal courts, Ms. VanDermyden now specializes in conducting workplace investigations. She has handled hundreds of workplace investigations on all types of employment matters over the last several years. Ms. VanDermyden is skilled in all aspects of the workplace investigative process, including testifying at administrative and judicial proceedings. In addition to her focus on workplace investigations, she regularly provides advice and counseling on employment matters. Ms. VanDermyden regularly lectures on numerous topics involving employment issues and has written extensively in this area. She chairs CAOWI's Education Committee.
Lizbeth West is a shareholder in the Labor and Employment, Appeals and Writs, and Litigation groups of Weintraub Genshlea Chediak. She is admitted to practice law in California and Washington. Ms. West assists employers in all aspects of their employment relationship with their employees and defends employers in employment disputes. She has extensive experience defending employers in various forms of employment-related litigation in state and federal court, and in administrative actions before a number of state and federal agencies. Ms. West also conducts workplace investigations for both public and private employers. She was selected for inclusion in the Northern California SuperLawyers as a Rising Star for 2009. Ms. West is a regular speaker for various commercial and continuing education programs on employment issues facing employers in California, and has also been an adjunct professor of law at McGeorge School of Law.
