Overview
Veronica M. Gray is a prominent trial attorney in Orange County, California with more than four decades of experience litigating and negotiating employment issues for her clients. She represents employers throughout California, as well as meeting their out-of-state needs. In her years at the firm she has worked to successfully grow the practice and mentor her colleagues. What distinguishes Veronica is her strategic creative approach in addressing her clients’ needs and resolutions that are smart and effective. Veronica has a track record of partnering with her clients to embrace their issues to ensure attainment of their goals and objectives. The very nature of her practice has an impact on the business world in that she counsels business executives in addressing their most valuable asset, the talented individuals who work at their companies.
Veronica provides counseling, advice, investigations, training, and litigation services to privately-held companies and public entities in a broad array of employment matters including defending wage and hour class actions and sole plaintiff wrongful terminations, discrimination, and harassment actions. Veronica also prosecutes and defends unfair competition and trade secret matters.
A high-performing, effective trainer and mentor, Veronica regularly presents on employment topics and industry trends impacting employers including prevention of sexual harassment and discrimination, elimination of unconscious bias, and defending/avoiding wage and hour class actions. Veronica has been recognized for her work by Los Angeles Magazine as a Southern California "Super Lawyer" in Employment & Labor and included in OC Metro magazine’s annual list of “Top Attorneys” as one of the region’s top-rated Employment lawyers. She is AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell.
Over the span of Veronica’s career, she has taken on a leadership role in many professional and philanthropic organizations on a local and international level with a focus on micro-enterprise and children's education. Ms. Gray is also a passionate photographer focusing on street photography and close-up images of indigenous people world-wide (www.veronicagrayphotography.com). Her work has been on display at the Chapman University School of Law, the Peter Blake Gallery, the Bowers Museum, Newport Beach Library and Laguna Beach City Hall in Orange County, in Orange Coast Magazine, and at the FotoCare Gallery and the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in New York
Experience
Experience
- City of Oakland. Serves as outside employment law counsel to assist the City Attorney’s Office with advising and counseling on a variety of issues including wage-and-hour, contracting-out, leave laws, disciplinary matters, and contract issues. She has represented the City in arbitrations and before the Public Employee’s Relations Board. Serving in this capacity since 2011, she has handled over 60 litigation matters, including lawsuits, arbitrations, grievances, and PERB hearings. She has handled a similar number of employment related tasks, including MOU interpretations and settlements.
- City of Cupertino. Serves as outside employment law counsel to assist the City Attorney’s Office with advising and counseling on a variety of employment issues including wage-and-hour, contracting-out, leave laws, disciplinary matters, and contract issues.
- Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Handled multiple employment-related litigation matters and provided advice and counsel for the FDIC when it was the receiver for IndyMac Bank, including wage and hour class actions, discrimination/harassment matters, executive compensation and wrongful terminations. Veronica continues to provide employment related advice and counsel to the FDIC.
- Performs due diligence for out of state companies doing business in California to ensure compliance with California related employment laws.
- Successfully defended/settled actions for various alleged sole plaintiff and class action wage and hour violations.
- Successfully defended employers in actions for alleged wrongful termination of employment in violation of public policy, discrimination, and/or retaliation.
- Successfully defended employers in actions for sexual harassment.
- Successfully defended employers in actions for misclassification of employees.
- Successfully represented employers in Department of Labor Audits.
- Successfully represented clients in unfair competition and trade secret litigation.
- Successfully defended employers in data breach and website compliance matters.
Insights
Publications
Blog Posts
Speaking Engagements
News
Organizations
Community & Professional
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES (PAST & CURRENT)
Association of Workplace Investigators
Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)
Professionals in Human Resources Association (PIHRA)
Member, Vistage International, Inc.
Board Member/Executive Committee of Girl Scouts of Orange County
California State Bar, Employment and Intellectual Property Law Sections
Board of Directors, Orange County Bar Association
Chair, Bench/Bar/Media Committee, Orange County Bar Association
Member, Gender Bias Committee, Orange County Bar Association
Long Range Planning Committee, Orange County Bar Association
President, Orange County Women Lawyer’s Association
Chair, Public Affairs Committee, California State Bar
Board of Directors, California State Bar, Litigation Section
California Young Lawyers, Board of Directors, District 8
President, Inland Counties Women at Law
COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES (PAST & CURRENT)
Advisory Board, The Fistula Foundation
Advisory Board, Integrity Wealth Management
Belizean Grove
Board of Directors, 211 Orange County
Board of Directors, Secretary, Orange County Museum of Art
Board of Directors, Council on Aging, Orange County
Board of Directors, Girl Scouts of Orange County
Board of Directors, International Forum of Corporate Directors
Board of Directors, Legal Aid Society of Orange County
Board of Trustees, Vice President of Corporate Development, South Coast Repertory
Board of Trustees, Laguna College of Art and Design
Board of Visitors, UCI Law School
Chair, Executive Women's Council, Center Club
Founder, Women's Forum
Home Aid
United Way, Women's Philanthropy Fund/Chair of Women Starting A Business
WilFund/Women of Vision/World Vision
Honors
Honors & Recognitions
Selected to the Southern California Super Lawyers List.
Selected as a "Top Attorney" for Employment by OC Metro magazine.
AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell.
Education
- Pepperdine University School of Law, J.D., 1976, with honors
- Syracuse University, M.A., 1973
- State University of New York, Buffalo, B.A., 1970, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa
Admissions
- California
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
- U.S. District Court, Central District of California
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
- U.S. District Court, Southern District of California