• B.A., Political Science, Tuskegee University; • J.D., Vanderbilt University.
Me? I am an Atlanta native, born and raised. I grew up on the Westside of Atlanta alongside my teenage mother. I am a first generation high-school, college, and of course, law school graduate. I understood very early in life what my purpose is — to serve others as I have been served.
I am the product of national foundation for at-risk kids, who refused to let my circumstances determine my outcome. A foundation that instilled in me that service to your neighbor is not always glamorous, but it can be so rewarding! I learned from the members, mentors, and directors of the program, what it means to be an advocate, a friend, a helping hand, or just a listening ear.
I attended law school with the goal of finding a how I could use my natural talents to serve others in many of the ways the foundation served me. Of course, now, over two decades after I became a member of the foundation, how befitting it is to serve clients who have made serving others their calling.
Now that who I am is out of the way, how about what I love to do? I love to spend time with my wife and daughter, I love playing basketball or a good workout. I also enjoy gaming, whether it’s an MMORPG or a plot thick single-player game. Overall, I just love a good time.
On September 14, 2023, New York’s Governor, Kathy Hochul, signed Assembly Bill 836 (“A836”) into law which prohibits employers from requesting or requiring access to personal accounts such as texts, emails, and mobile applications like WhatsApp from electronic devices. A836, which went into effect on March 12, 2024, also prohibits employers from discharging, disciplining, or failing to hire individuals who refuse to provide access to personal accounts and is subject to only a few exceptions.
Colorado Issues Much Awaited Guidance on Its Pay Transparency Law Amendments
December 20, 2023
Category: Legal Updates
Amendments to the Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act (“EPEWA”) will go into effect on January 1, 2024. The EPEWA, which went into effect in January of 2021, prohibits Colorado employers who might discriminate against employees based on sex by paying less for substantially similar work, i.e., skill, effort, or responsibility. To that end, the EPEWA, which since its inception has required external or internal job postings to include salary or wage range, compensation and benefits, and the application deadline for job opportunities and promotions, will now add additional burdens on Colorado employers. Namely (1) requiring internal notifications regarding all job opportunities, not only promotions, and (2) mandating certain notifications after an applicant has been selected for an opportunity. Colorado employers were already grappling with how to comply with the EPEWA’s requirements, and these new rules may have made it harder.
Department of Homeland Security Ends Covid-19 Temporary Flexibilities and Rolls Out New E-Verify Alternative Verification Procedures
September 21, 2023
Category: Legal Updates
Beginning in March of 2020, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) allowed employers to complete the I-9 process remotely on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 4, 2023, ICE announced that these Covid-19 “flexibilities,” would end on July 31, 2023, and that employers would have until August 30, 2023 to conduct an in-person physical inspection for all employees remotely verified and hired during Covid-19.
On September 30, 2023, Florida will increase its minimum wage to $12.00. The increase in wage is a part of a yearly dollar increase that Florida instituted in 2020 following a voter-approved ballot measure. Florida’s minimum wage is set to increase to $15.00 by 2026. Because Florida’s tipped wage is $3.02, the increased minimum wage will increase the required cash wage for tipped employees to $8.98 in 2023 and presumably, $11.98 by 2026. All Florida employers are required to post the current minimum wage in their place of business where an employee can see it.
NLRB’s Cemex Decision Facilitates Union Recognition Even Without Elections
September 6, 2023
Category: Legal Updates
On August 25, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (the “NLRB”) released its long awaited Cemex Construction Materials Pacific (“Cemex”) decision. See NLRB Case No. 28-CA-230115. The crux of the Cemex case revolved around how to hold election procedures when an employer has allegedly committed unfair labor practices during the “critical period” of an election campaign between the filing of the election petition and the election itself. The NLRB responded to that question by instituting a framework that hearkens back to the Joy Silk standard used over 50 years ago, which required employers to bargain with a union unless it had a good-faith doubt of the union’s majority support among employees.