Patricia J. Craft
Pat Craft has nearly thirty years of experience in employment law. She advises and counsels employers in all areas of employment law, and represents employers at every stage of employment litigation. Her superior skills at developing and maximizing positive outcomes are widely recognized. She has earned her reputation as a thorough, tenacious, and persuasive litigator with outstanding advocacy skills. Pat is known for her exemplary professional demeanor and work ethic and is particularly adept at connecting and building rapport with clients, government agency and court personnel.
Pat has successfully represented employers in federal and state courts, through discovery, motions, bench trials, jury trials, mediation, negotiation and appeals. She also appears regularly before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, U.S. Department of Labor, Georgia Department of Labor and other federal and state agencies. She works with a wide array of industries: state and local governments; retail and manufacturing firms; public, for-profit and not-for-profit organizations that provide services to individuals with disabilities; residential providers and legal advocacy agencies. Pat handles all types of employment matters in many areas: Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) minimum wage and overtime compensation, child labor and special minimum wages; Service Contract Act (SCA) and Walsh-Healy Public Contracts Act (PCA); Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and related statutes; Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA); Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA); The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA); state discrimination, harassment and other torts.
Pat also provides preventive employment law compliance services for employers. She helps minimize costly employment claims by helping employers craft solutions that assure compliance with federal and state employment laws and regulations. These preventive services include employment practices audits, wage and hour audits and exemption determinations, in-house training, consultation and internal investigations pertaining to the FLSA, FMLA, Title VII, ADA, ADEA, COBRA, Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN), Service Contract and related acts, USERRA, regulations and state laws.
Pat helps clients develop and implement policies, practices and handbooks that ensure compliance and allow for the early detection and resolution of employment disputes; she audits FLSA, FMLA, and government contracts compliance. She also provides in house training in best practices under the FLSA; FMLA; SCA/PCA; ADA, ADEA, Title VII and state discrimination and harassment law, proper hiring, discipline and discharge techniques; workplace violence; and cultural diversity in the workplace.
Pat also provides Civil Collaborative Practice services in the area of employment law.
Pat is admitted to practice in the State and Superior Courts of the State of Georgia, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia and the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. She is a member of the Labor and Employment Law Sections of the Atlanta Bar Association, the State Bar of Georgia and the American Bar Association. Pat is a member of the Federal Bar Association's Labor and Employment Section and its Government Contracts Section. Pat is also a member of the Georgia Association for Women Lawyers, the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals (IACP), the Collaborative Law Institute of Georgia (CLIG), and the Society for Human Resource Management.
Pat is a graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law (J.D., 1977) and the University of Georgia (B.A. magna cum laude, with special honors in philosophy, Phi Beta Kappa, 1974).