BRG Bolsters Labor and Employment Practice with Addition of Four Managing Directors

BRG announced today that labor economists Mike DuMond, PhD, Eric Mitchem, PhD, Benjamin S. Shippen, PhD and Wayne Strayer, PhD, have joined the firm as managing directors in its Labor and Employment practice. The four new hires previously served as managing directors at a premier economic consulting firm.

“As a former labor and employment attorney, I know these professionals have the breadth of experience and industry connections to add meaningful value to BRG’s clients,” said Raymond Kolls, a managing director and co-leader of BRG’s Economics and Damages community. “This distinguished group will deepen our Labor and Employment practice’s consulting and litigation capabilities, encompassing everything from class certification matters, wage and hour, pay equity studies, EEOC risk assessment and OFCCP compliance, as well as disparate impact testing in promotions, terminations and assessments of employee performance. With these additions, BRG is now home to one of the most comprehensive L&E consulting and expert witness groups in the industry.”

DuMond said on behalf of the group: “BRG has always been a destination for the world’s most preeminent labor consulting talent, and we are excited to join the ranks of its industry leaders like David Lewin and Janet Thornton. Our group looks forward to providing services that span the full scope of BRG’s offerings––whether it be quantitative data analysis, development of statistical models or administration of complex electronic databases.”

The group significantly expands and complements the existing expertise of BRG’s Labor and Employment practice, which includes managing directors Lewin, Thornton and Stefan Boedeker. BRG’s full-service practice is one of the few in the country that also offers industrial–organizational psychology and organizational development capabilities provided by directors Elizabeth Arnold and Chester Hanvey, who conduct job analyses (e.g., on-site observations, questionnaires, interviews) and validate employee selection procedures. In addition, the practice offers advisory and expert services in the areas of executive compensation, no poaching and non-compete arrangements, and independent contractor versus employee status. The arrival of these new experts marks the evolution of BRG’s Labor and Employment practice into one of the most robust in the marketplace today.

DuMond’s consulting experience includes numerous engagements in matters involving pay equity, disparate impact, wage and hour compliance, systemic Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) investigations, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) audits and calculation of economic exposure. He routinely works with counsel and internal subject-matter experts to design statistical models that are reflective of an employer’s hiring, promotion, compensation, termination and performance evaluation processes. He also routinely works with employers and internal and external counsel on proactive audits relating to potential compensation disparities. His engagements in wage-and-hour matters have involved allegations relating to off-the-clock work, miscalculation of the regular rate of pay, missed meal/rest periods and misclassification of exempt status. His academic research focuses on employee compensation and selection procedures and has been published in professional peer-reviewed journals including Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Economic Inquiry and the Journal of Sports Economics.

Mitchem focuses on the application of economic, econometric and statistical analysis to employment litigation, EEOC investigations, OFCCP audits and proactive self-monitoring studies. He consults with large corporations, government contractors and leading law firms on employment discrimination matters to monitor and assess the risk of litigation or government investigation for various occupations and industries. He also helps clients design statistical models consistent with their hiring, promotion, performance evaluation, compensation, termination and reduction-in-force decisions.

Shippen concentrates his consulting practice on economic modeling and statistical analysis in the areas of labor and employment. He has worked on engagements involving allegations of discrimination in compensation, hiring, termination, performance, promotion and other employment decisions under Title VII, Equal Pay Act and Americans with Disabilities Act claims. In wage-and-hour matters, Shippen has provided analysis and expertise addressing both Fair Labor Standards Act and state law issues of unpaid overtime pay claims, off-the-clock work, improper tip pooling and employee misclassification. In addition, Shippen has experience in building and managing large and complex employment databases to analyze the effects of employment practices and policies. His research has been published in professional peer-reviewed journals including the Journal of Labor Research, Atlantic Economic Journal and Legal Applications of Data for Institutional Research.

Strayer provides expertise in matters involving claims of discrimination in employment practices, studies of pay equity, EEOC and OFCCP audits and investigations, and studies of wage-and-hour compliance. He works with attorneys and human resource professionals to identify and study data relevant to employment practices, including hiring, promotions, compensation, terminations and performance and discipline decisions. He also assists clients who are involved in litigation or conducting proactive studies of their employment practices. His research has been published in academic journals including the Journal of Labor Economics, Journal of Human Resources and The Review of Economics and Statistics. 

“In today’s fast-changing labor market, our clients rely on us for expert counsel and guidance more than ever before,” added Jeffery A. Stec, a managing director and co-leader of BRG’s Economics and Damages community. “This group’s arrival further cements our market-leading Labor and Employment practice and represents a significant milestone for the practice’s growth.”