Susan focuses her practice on labor, employment, and OSHA compliance, defense, and crisis response. She provides comprehensive OSHA representation of employers across all industry sectors. She has counseled and defended employers regarding all aspects of the employer/employee relationship, with particular emphasis on reconciling state, local, and federal laws in the areas of drug use, disability and leave for national employers. She is a sought after third party investigator of workplace misconduct allegations.

Susan has over 35 years of experience. Her work includes counseling to employers and litigation defense in the areas of discrimination, harassment, whistleblower, tort claims, contract claims, defamation, wrongful discharge, trade secret, covenants not to compete, duty of loyalty, wage/hour, retaliation, FMLA, ADA, and WARN Act. She has particularly broad experience regarding accommodation and leave issues, with a keen understanding of the interplay between federal/state family and medical leave laws, federal/state disability laws, state/local sick pay and paid family leave laws, OSHA, and workers' compensation. Her experience extends to representation of employers with unionized workforces and includes collective bargaining, labor arbitration, and unfair labor practice matters and advice relating to contract compliance and grievance handling. She has handled numerous large and small reductions in force and voluntary retirement programs. She has comprehensive experience representing religious and secular non-profits.

Susan conducts and oversees investigations following workplace accidents and infectious disease outbreak as part of her OSHA work. She also is a "go-to" lawyer for crises relating to allegations of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation involving senior and executive leadership. She has a significant track record of meticulous and thoughtful investigative work.

Susan is admitted to practice in the Virginia state courts, Eastern and Western Federal District Courts of Virginia, District of Columbia Superior Court, District of Columbia Federal District Court, Federal District Court of Maryland, Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and US Supreme Court. She has represented employers in employment and/or OSHA/MSHA litigation in almost every state in the continental United States.

Bar Admissions

Education
JD, Wake Forest University School of Law, cum laude, 1989

BA, English and Government, The College of William & Mary, 1984