Ogletree Deakins Launches Workplace Investigations and Organizational Assessments Practice Group
Leading labor and employment law firm Ogletree Deakins has announced the launch of its Workplace Investigations and Organizational Assessments Practice Group. The group will be co-chaired by Monique Gougisha Doucette, who is a shareholder in the firm’s New Orleans office and Andre’ Caldwell, a shareholder in the firm’s Oklahoma City office.
The newly formed group will help clients in dealing with high-level internal complaints, conducting extensive analyses of company policies and practices, and will also provide guidance to employers in other investigative matters. The practice group will also guide clients on investigating critical workplace issues including cultural inequities, claims of pattern or practice discrimination, unconscious bias, rampant harassment, and executive misconduct.
Further, the group will also assist clients in conducting organizational assessments to deal with issues relating to claims of systemic discrimination, institutional and cultural inequities, and ineffective workplace policies. These detailed assessments will promote institutional best practices and provide customized recommendations to clients. The attorneys in the team will also help clients with training their human resource personnel to enhance their investigative skills.
Monique Doucette, co-chair of the newly-formed practice group, commands an experience of over 19 years in heading sensitive and high-profile internal investigations and managing employment litigation. She joined the firm in 2009. She specializes in handling complex whistleblower, harassment, and discrimination claims. She assists clients from a variety of industries including hospitality, banking, energy, and construction. Her practice also focuses on investigation issues relating to pattern/ practice discrimination, workplace misconduct, sexual harassment/ assault, unconscious bias, and systemic issues in workplace practices.
Andre’ Caldwell, an experienced trial lawyer, brings with him litigation and prosecutorial skills and helps domestic and international clients with conducting workplace and internal investigations. He also regularly assists clients with training their Human Resources team on how to conduct effective investigations. He also represents clients in matters relating to harassment and discrimination allegations under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
He started his legal career as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Western District of Oklahoma, where he received the FBI Director’s award for his outstanding prosecutorial skills from FBI Director Robert Mueller. He also served as the co-chair of Ogletree Deakins’ ODBAR—a business resource group dedicated to empowering black and African-American attorneys at the firm. He joined the firm in 2017 from Crowe & Dunlevy.
Commenting on the newly launched practice group and her new role, Doucette said, “Changes in our global cultural climate over the last few years have significantly increased the demand for counseling and assistance with challenging workplace investigations. I look forward to co-chairing this practice group and assisting employers as they navigate through these complex matters.”
Caldwell said, “While Ogletree Deakins has always conducted workplace investigations, the formation of this practice group allows the Firm to centralize its core group of attorneys who have the experience and knowledge to handle these matters and, in turn, makes these investigators more readily identifiable and accessible to clients. I am excited to co-chair this practice group and take to the next level our ability to provide practical solutions to clients when these claims arise.”