Gilberto Garcia Email & Phone Number

Washington, Dc

While working for this boutique labor and employment law firm, I provided clients that were federal contractors and subcontractors with practical guidance to resolve a broad array of employment-related equal employment opportunity (EEO) issues and human resources (HR) compliance-related services, including ensuring full compliance with OFCCP’s nondiscrimination and affirmative action obligations pursuant to Executive Order 11246, Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 (VEVRAA), and other labor laws and regulations. I also defended clients during OFCCP compliance evaluations, complaint investigations, and participated in settlement negotiations when needed. I also conducted assessments of clients’ readiness for OFCCP audits, developed compliant affirmative action programs (AAPs) for clients, conducted statistical analyses of employment transactional data and client compensation data to identify any potential indicators of systemic discrimination, aided in internal investigations, offered guidance on conducting compliant outreach and good-faith efforts, and assessed clients’ compliance with applicable talent acquisition, self-ID, and recordkeeping requirements. I also maintained client relations where needed, established working partnerships with national employment organizations, spoke at networking forums, and increased revenue opportunities for the firm.

Washington, Dc

While working for the oldest national non-profit, employer-member association comprised of over 160 companies, including Fortune 500 firms in various industries, I provided guidance to help member employers’ HR, talent acquisition, compensation, legal and EEO staff better understand and manage their federal and state workplace compliance obligations and risks, offered practical and effective solutions to common EEO, HR, and OFCCP compliance issues, helped devise effective diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) campaigns, and submitted written public comments to federal agencies, like the EEOC and OFCCP, on proposed policies and regulations. I also drafted memos for weekly publication on CWC’s website concerning OFCCP’s enforcement and regulatory activities, EEOC policies and interpretive guidance, and important state/local labor and employment matters, such as pay transparency, pay reporting, and AI regulation. I spoke at CWC conferences, facilitated monthly virtual conversations with members to discuss workplace compliance issues, and I delivered training courses, resources, and checklists for CWC members on AAP development and managing OFCCP compliance audits.

Washington, Dc

While working in the Office of the Chief Counsel, I represented the Agency in administrative and court proceedings to ensure its compliance with the various equal employment opportunity laws and regulations in the federal sector pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, as amended, the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA), as amended, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). I frequently advised Agency staff and prepared legal memoranda advocating the Department’s legal position before the EEOC, NLRB and MSPB. I maintained my own docket of cases and conducted all phases of discovery, including document reviews, prepared privilege logs, deposed and defended witnesses in depositions, and appeared in federal forums to argue motions and conducted trial litigation defending the Department from EEO/MSPB complaints filed by Agency employees. I also reviewed and analyzed for legal sufficiency the final determinations made by our client-agency personnel, including those involving EEO, MSPB, ADAAA, and FMLA matters, while also investigating the merits of any incoming EEO discrimination complaints. I also advised management during collective bargaining sessions/ULP disputes with three of the Agency’s bargaining units under the FLRA.

Washington, Dc

While working for the 2nd largest employer in Washington, DC, I supervised up to 4 staff members, and coordinated with the Office of General Counsel (OGC), the University’s EEO & affirmative action obligations, responses to grievances, EEOC/FEPA discrimination complaints, employee relations disputes, and mediation sessions. I analyzed & reviewed proposed hires (1100+/yr.) in our ATS for EEO compliance, managed the ADA & religious accommodation requests (100+) filed by employees, & also worked with staff to resolve any FMLA-related issues. I also managed the University’s Affirmative Action Plans (AAPs) to ensure compliance with USDOL’s OFCCP’s regulatory obligations under Executive Order 11246, Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, & the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974, including the new OFCCP regulations that significantly increased the reporting burdens for federal contractors. I also helped investigate sexual harassment/sexual violence complaints under Title IX. I worked with the Employee Relations Manager on non-EEO matters, while also providing HR assistance to supervisors & the 30+ HR Client Partners embedded in various University departments/divisions, including making frequent EEO training presentations to staff. I also developed SOPs that codified HR’s expectations for hiring practices to meet the University's affirmative action obligations, which resulted for the first time reliable HR metrics to identify hiring, promotion & termination trends in personnel activity. I also revised the EEO Office’s website and the University's Employee Guidebook to ensure compliance with updated labor laws. I also provided expert guidance on EEO-related matters to senior University officials & conducted training seminars to external organizations (CUPA-HR). Lastly, I worked with Compensation on revising the University’s staff compensation & classification systems.

Washington, Dc

While working in the Division of Program Operations (DPO), I provided technical & legal expertise to OFCCP's six regional and 49 area/district offices in the reviewing and monitoring of about 4,000 scheduled compliance evaluations of federal contractor and subcontractor establishments annually to ensure that contractors adhere to the non-discrimination and affirmative action obligations in its labor & employment practices under Executive Order 11246 (similar to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act), Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (similar to the Americans with Disabilities Act), & the affirmative action provisions of the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974, 38 U.S.C. § 4212. Like an in-house General Counsel, I worked closely with attorneys in the Department’s Office of the Solicitor to provide legal expertise and counsel to DPO’s Director & OFCCP’s senior leadership & field staff on their compliance evaluations & complaint investigations, issued determinations on jurisdictional challenges raised by federal contractors, analyzed labor & employment cases for legal developments that may impact OFCCP’s operations, & developed policy memoranda & drafted operational guidance in order for OFCCP’s field offices to develop and apply uniform practices consistently during their investigations. I worked as the National Coordinator for EEOC-OFCCP collaboration on systemic discrimination cases. I also worked with OFCCP's policy division to develop national training standards for 200+ compliance officers, provided updates to OFCCP's operations manual, & reviewed for legal sufficiency over 200 class-action settlements annually. I assisted with the annual scheduling of contractor facilities selected for OFCCP investigations & examined appeals of complaint investigations. I also represented OFCCP in meetings with the EEOC and DOJ, & with contractor representatives at Industry Liaison Group (ILG) meetings.

While working in the Division of Civil Rights and Labor-Management, I enforced and defended in administrative and court proceedings the affirmative action principles and the prohibition of employment discrimination pursuant to Executive Order 11246, Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the affirmative action provisions of the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974, 38 U.S.C. § 4212, which are administered by the Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, that federal contractors and subcontractors must adhere to when contracting with the Federal Government. I maintained my own docket of cases, conducted all phases of discovery, including deposing and defending witnesses in depositions, and appeared in Federal court to argue motions and conduct trial litigation to defend the Department and its programs. I also enforced and defended the anti-discrimination principles found in the Department’s programs and initiatives for the Civil Rights Center under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. I reviewed and analyzed for legal sufficiency the final determinations made by our client agency personnel, and also investigated the merits of any incoming discrimination complaints or enforcement actions completed by our client agencies. I also conducted legal research and prepared legal memoranda advocating the Department’s legal position. I conducted training presentations and attended seminars to educate our client agencies in the areas of employment discrimination, analyzed contractors’ affirmative action programs (AAPs) when reviewing OFCCP’s investigative findings, and provided staff with legal updates under Title VII and disability law.

Doctor Of Law - Jd, Labor Law

Activities and Societies: Moot Court; Order of the Coif; Vienna International Arbitration Competition; Latin American Law Students.

Bachelor Of Arts - Ba, Latin American Studies & Government

Activities and Societies: Student Government; Director of the Minority Information Center; Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.; Co-Chair.