Laura A. Mitchell

Photo of Laura A. Mitchell

Laura Mitchell is a Principal in the Denver, Colorado, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. She represents management exclusively in all areas of employment law, focusing on affirmative action and government contractor compliance.

Ms. Mitchell is a Principal in the firm’s Affirmative Action and OFCCP Defense practice group, representing government and non-government contractors in Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) matters, preparing for and defending OFCCP audits, and counseling employers on issues stemming from OFCCP regulations. Ms. Mitchell personally oversees the development of hundreds of AAPs each year and is intimately involved in the defense of numerous OFCCP audits. Ms. Mitchell also spends significant time counseling clients in connection with conducting pay equity analyses.

Ms. Mitchell is also on the leadership team for the firm’s Government Contractor Industry Group and a member of the firm’s Pay Equity Resource Group.

Ms. Mitchell is an editor and principle contributor of The Affirmative Action Law Advisor blog and frequently presents on pay equity, affirmative action compliance, OFCCP enforcement trends, and government contractor obligations.

Prior to joining Jackson Lewis, Ms. Mitchell counseled management as an in house attorney with a national telecommunications company.

JD Supra Readers Choice Top Author 2018

Firm/Organization: Jackson Lewis P.C.
Blogs: Affirmative Action & OFCCP Law Advisor, Disability, Leave & Health Management Blog, Pay Equity Advisor Blog

Latest Articles

With less than a week left on the December 21st deadline to reach a spending deal and avoid another government shutdown, tensions are high in Washington D.C.  On Tuesday, President Trump stated he would refuse to sign a spending bill that did not contain a $5 billion allocation for a border wall.  It is questionable, however, whether such a bill would pass in the House or Senate. Thus, it is possible we will see…
By Laura A. Mitchell and James D. Mackey As we reported on Friday, November 30, OFCCP began it’s 2019 fiscal year by releasing a rash of new directives. On Monday, we looked at the rescission of Obama Administration’s Active Case Enforcement (ACE) directive. Yesterday, we reviewed OFCCP’s new guidance on Early Resolution Procedures. Today we review the third Directive – Directive 2019-03: Opinion Letters and Help Desk. Under Directive 2019-03 (effective November…
By Scott M. Pechaitis and Sabrina L. Brown As we reported last Friday, OFCCP has kicked-off 2019 with a bang – issuing three directives in a single day. Yesterday we reported on the first of three new Directives OFCCP issued to kick off fiscal year 2019. Today we cover the second Directive – Directive 2019-02: Early Resolution Procedures. Under Directive 2019-02 (effective November 30, 2018), OFCCP will offer contractors the opportunity to voluntarily…
Elizabeth P. Hernandez contributed to this post. Last Friday, OFCCP kicked off the 2019 fiscal year with its first of three new Directives: “Directive 2019-01 – Compliance Review Procedures,” which rescinds the Obama Administration’s Active Case Enforcement (ACE) approach to audits – Directive 2011-01. The ACE Directive was itself a replacement of the Bush Administration’s Active Case Management Directive (ACM). What does all this mean? In summary, the ACM Directive emphasized abbreviated, more frequent OFCCP…
Today, on the last day of the month, OFCCP has released three new directives – the first three of the Agency’s 2019 Fiscal Year – and continues the string of directives issued by the new administration, bringing the number to an even dozen. Directive 2019 -01: Compliance Review Procedures rescinds the Directive 2011-01 which set out the Active Case Enforcement compliance review procedures implemented under former Director Patricia Shiu and states reviews will be conducted in accordance…
By Laura A. Mitchell, James D. Mackey, and Suzanne Donnelly Corwin As contractors start to see new scheduling letters arrive from OFCCP’s latest round of advance notification letters, OFCCP has new opportunities to  demonstrate its commitment to transparency, through implementation of the Agency’s recently released Directive 2018-08: Transparency in OFCCP Compliance Activities. The Agency’s stated philosophy is that transparency should “guide OFCCP staff during every stage of the compliance evaluation, from beginning to end” and…
By Laura A. Mitchell and Suzanne Donnelly Corwin Late last week, OFCCP published a notice in the federal register seeking public comment regarding its proposed Leadership in Equal Access and Diversity (“LEAD”) Award.  The LEAD award will  recognize federal contractor and subcontractor establishments that have developed and successfully implemented comprehensive equal employment opportunity and nondiscrimination programs. OFCCP and the Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau are partnering to create this award. This, and the agency’s…
Appearing in today’s federal register is OFCCP’s request for comment on the proposed structure and details of the agency’s new Excellence in Disability Inclusion Award.  The award will highlight successful practices and strategies of contractors that have expanded and improved recruitment, hiring, retention, and promotion opportunities for individuals with disabilities. In August, at the ILG National Conference, Acting Director Leen announced the Agency’s intention to develop programs to recognize contractors for their excellence in affirmative action.  Following the…
In continued commitment to restoring the Agency’s relationship with the contractor community, OFCCP recently announced it has entered into a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) with the National Industry Liaison Group (“NILG”) in order to foster collaboration between the federal contractor community and OFCCP. For those not familiar with the organization, the NILG is a non-profit organization formed in 1992 that focuses on affirmative action and equal employment opportunity for federal contractors and other employers. …
It appears OFCCP has made some updates to its latest Corporate Scheduling Announcement List release.  When accessing the current publicly available list through OFCCP’s website, the resulting file now displays a header which indicates the file contains “addresses updated as of September 24, 2018.”  Upon close review and comparison with the original list posted last week, it seems OFCCP has updated city and state information for some the establishments selected as part of the supplemental selection process. …