Veronica M. Gray

Veronica 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.

Veronica provides counseling, advice, investigations, training, and litigation services to privately-held companies and public entities in a broad array of employment and labor related matters including defending class actions related to wage and hour, and defending sole plaintiff wrongful terminations, discrimination, and harassment actions.  She also prosecutes and defends unfair competition and trade secret matter.  Advice and counsel include labor related issues, data breach/cybersecurity, website compliance, executive employment agreements and benefits, severance and separation agreements, leave laws, reductions in force, record retention, e-discovery, audits, and social media. What distinguishes Veronica is her strategic creative approach in addressing her clients’ needs and resolutions that are smart and effective.  Veronica has not only mastered the nuances of employment law, but is skilled in bet the company cases. She thrives on tough cases and knows how to win.

Veronica counsels employers on how to execute workplace standards that both contribute to the overall stability of their organizations and comport with state and federal laws.  Her experience runs the gamut of strategizing and negotiating to agency hearings, mediation, arbitration, and trials on an administrative, federal and state level. She leads a team of accomplished litigators, with a track record of success in high profile cases.  Her team regularly counsels clients and appears before state and federal agencies such as the DLSE, DOL, FEHA, EEOC, and PERB. 

Over the span of Veronica's career, she has taken on leadership roles in many professional and philanthropic organizations on a local and international level with a focus on micro-enterprise and children's education.  She is also a passionate photographer and her remote travel has allowed her to capture the striking close-up images of indigenous people world-wide (www.veronicagrayphotography.com).  She has donated her photography to many non-profits to support their fund raising efforts and her work has been on display at the Chapman University School of Law and the Peter Blake Gallery in Orange County, in Orange Coast Magazine, and at the FotoCare Gallery and the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in New York. 

A high-performing, effective trainer and mentor, Veronica regularly presents to public agencies, privately-held companies, and industry groups on employment topics and industry trends impacting employers in addition to leading the Firm’s annual Employment Law Update series.  She 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.

Experience

• City of Oakland.  Nossaman 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.  Nossaman represents the City in arbitrations and before the Public Employee’s Relations Board.   Serving in this capacity for nearly six years now, Nossaman has handled over sixty litigation matters, including lawsuits, arbitrations, grievances, and PERB hearings.  Nossaman has handled a similar number of employment related tasks, including MOU interpretations and settlements.  We do not, however, handle collective bargaining negotiations.
• City of Cupertino.  Nossaman 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.  We do not, however, handle collective bargaining negotiations
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.  Nossaman has handled multiple employment related actions against IndyMac Bank and its affiliates; including wage and hour class actions, discrimination/harassment matters, executive compensation and wrongful terminations.
• 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.

Publications

Blog Posts

Speaking Engagements

News

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 Trustees, Vice President of Corporate Development, South Coast Repertory

Board of Trustees, Laguna College of Art and Design

Board of Directors, International Forum of Corporate Directors

Board of Directors, Legal Aid Society of Orange County

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 & 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.