Severance Agreements 101: Drafting Enforceable Provisions to Mitigate Employer Risk

Ms. Danis has over 25 years of experience protecting the rights of individuals and advocating for justice in employment discrimination, civil rights, breach of contract, and constitutional cases. Before joining the firm, she developed and resolved groundbreaking cases during a distinguished career as an attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). An experienced advocate for employees who have been victims of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation, Ms. Danis has practiced in federal trial, appellate, and administrative courts. She previously held senior roles in the DOJ, including Deputy Chief and trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division’s Employment Litigation Section, Acting Deputy Special Counsel and Special Litigation Counsel in the Immigrant and Employee Rights Section, and attorney in the Appellate Section. At the EEOC’s Office of General Counsel, she successfully litigated appeals in disability discrimination and sexual harassment cases. Ms. Danis has been at the forefront of pursuing employment discrimination claims that involve technology, AI, and automation in employment decision making. She has successfully challenged facially neutral hiring practices with disparate impacts based on sex, race, or national origin, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Her work has also targeted the misuse of temporary employment-based visa programs in the agricultural, hospitality, and technology sectors, with particular expertise in IT recruiting and staffing practices.

Ms. Sholinsky counsels executives, HR professionals, and in-house legal teams at private equity-owned companies, financial services firms, pharmaceutical companies, and insurance companies, among others, on the full spectrum of employment compliance matters, including discrimination, sexual harassment, restrictive covenants, paid leave, and wage and hour requirements. A number of her clients are foreign multinationals with HR staff based in the parent country who are unfamiliar with the nuances of U.S. employment law. Clients typically come to Ms. Sholinsky at a moment of change—opening or expanding in the U.S., hiring in a new state, closing a transaction, or responding to an internal complaint—when the cost of getting it wrong could mean unhappy employees, litigation, or both. She has developed long-term relationships with these clients by being a sharp, versatile advisor who genuinely knows their people, their business, and the stakes involved, and who makes even the most difficult workforce situations manageable. A significant part of Ms. Sholinsky's practice involves workforce training. She designs and leads programs on anti-harassment, “manager 101,” diversity, internal investigations, accommodations and the interactive process, and performance management. She also conducts one-on-one sessions with employees whose inappropriate workplace behavior puts both themselves and their company at risk. Ms. Sholinsky also helps employers respond rapidly to social issues and comply with ever-changing federal, state, and local employment laws.