Veronica M. Gray

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

• 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.

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 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 & 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.