Whitnie Gladden
Innovative Counsel
North Carolina
IL
About
Whitnie's most notable current client is Darden Restaurants, an approximately 165,000-employee restaurant company supporting 1,600 restaurants in 50 states. Her prior experience includes 10 years at Accenture LLP, a Fortune Global 500 company, and six years representing companies as outside counsel at top law… read more firms. She is accepting clients across the globe.
experience
Representative Clients
Practice Areas
Client Reviews
"I've had the pleasure of working with Whitnie for a number of years. She is smart, motivated, collaborative and detail-oriented. She is not only a strong subject matter expert, but also good at balancing priorities and delivering results. She is a team player, but can also work well independently. She is an all-around asset to any legal project."
"I joined the Accenture team in 2012 and immediately found Whitnie to be a welcoming and stabilizing force against the disorder of working within a complex enterprise. Here’s what I mean: It’s one thing to say – and it’s true about Whitnie – that she is a subject matter expert on employment compliance, adept at advising clients on complex and emotionally-charged employee relations issues. But it’s not common to see that skill matched with Whitnie’s mindset of building something – of taking complex legal advice and turning it into program or structure that, day in and day out, leads to compliant decision-making. Yes, Whitnie does the advising, analyzing and educating that good lawyers do. But what makes her great is how she leads large teams through the development of a process that is effortlessly and efficiently compliant. That’s a rare find."
Work History
Darden Restaurants
Senior Employment Law/Employee Benefits Contract Counsel
Apr 2018 - Present
Advise on a wide variety of employment, compensation and benefits matters; including the expansion of Darden Restaurants to various global locations. Develop model contract provisions, communications and guidance documents regarding contractor procurement and proper contractor management to reduce co-employment and misclassification risks. Draft employee policies and procedures.
Accenture LLP
Employment Law Counsel, Global Contracts, Ventures and Acquisitions
Jun 2015 - Apr 2018
Counsel and train global legal leadership and management on staff augmentation arrangements and background check regulations in over 40 countries. Negotiated, drafted and reviewed global performance and retention plans and employment agreements. Served as lead employment law counsel on global asset and stock-based acquisitions, and outsourcing deals.
Accenture LLP
North American Employment Law Counsel
Jan 2008 - Jun 2015
Counseled management and Human Resources personnel on sexual harassment, FMLA, FLSA, ADA, CFRA, NLRA, federal and state WARN Acts, leave and accommodations, recruiting and hiring practices, discrimination complaints and investigations, workforce reductions, contractor misclassification risks, performance management and other employment-related issues.
Franczek P.C.
Senior Associate
Dec 2004 - Dec 2008
Represented both private and public employers in all aspects of employment law including; litigation and preventative counseling. Conducted corporate investigations and audits for clients. Drafted and filed position statements, trial briefs, motions in limine and motions to dismiss. Conducted depositions for employment litigation cases.
Schiff Hardin
Employment Law/Employee Benefits Associate
Sep 2003 - Nov 2004
• Designed plan amendments and summary plan descriptions for tax-qualified defined benefit, defined contribution and non-qualified plans.
• Assisted with the termination of qualified plans, drafted QDROs, and reviewed plan documents to ensure compliance with ERISA and HIPAA.
• Authored memoranda regarding numerous employment and employee benefit issues.