WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION
Welcome to Navigate Inclusion. My name is Rachel Demarest Gold.
I’m an attorney. I’m a mother. I’m a woman.
I’ve been a prosecutor.
I’ve been a Labor Department Deputy Commissioner.
I’ve worked in the Legislature.
I’ve worked as an advocate and lobbyist.
I’ve built a career in labor and employment law, including harassment and discrimination litigation.
Navigate Inclusion brings together the unique aspects of my career, and packages them in a way that delivers the products, services, resources, and perspectives to help you navigate issues of harassment and exclusivity in a way that only I can deliver.
What Motivated Me to Launch This Project
I’ve seen my clients learn the hard way that an ounce of prevention would have been worth a pound of cure. I know the value of staying apprised of legal developments, training your people, and engaging the workforce in a conversation about the issues of harassment and exclusion; their rights and responsibilities.
I am a partner in a law firm and have a diverse practice handling all aspects of the employer/employee relationship, and the regulatory agencies that govern it. I litigate employment-related lawsuits like Title VII and ADA violations on the federal level, and human rights and labor law violations on the state level. I handle audits by US and State DOL and other agencies. I represent certain union employers where I handle their grievance arbitration process. I counsel employers regarding compliance, and do investigations into harassment allegations.
The one thing all these clients have in common is that their legal predicament could have been prevented.
But I also have a very personal reason.
I grew up in my father’s small manufacturing business in NYC – a regulatory minefield. I saw first-hand how trying to manage a business, and make sure you have payroll each week, is more than a full-time job. Staying on top of a legal landscape that is literally shifting daily is impossible for most-sized businesses.
In addition to offering services, this site is meant to provide a starting point for businesses who need to learn about their obligations as employers. Navigate inclusion is meant to be where employers go before the authorities or a summons and complaint end up on their doorstep. We offer training, DEI program development, employee engagement, and information and updates designed to prevent the need for my litigation and other legal services. And whereas employers have concerns about spending money on things like training and prevention, it should be noted by each of them that the cost of an Agency finding or lawsuit is much, much higher.
The Value Added
I have been able to do something no one running a business has done: Devote a career to jobs dealing with labor and employment law. And I am actually working these cases and with these issues at the same time I’m training and writing about them.
So across Regulation,
Legislation, and
Litigation,
I have an understanding of employers’ responsibilities and the challenges they face in meeting them. I am a singularly situated expert because of my multi-faceted experience in this landscape, and I bring to the table all the angles that got me here.
Employers need to understand that it’s not just about having policies in place and checking the training box. Everyone needs to understand the rules and their respective rights and responsibilities, and how those play out in their specific work environment.
What’s Next
I’ve posted some articles and information about recent developments in workplace rules. COVID has made this a very busy, ever-changing topic, and I hope to continue to update the site with information and perspectives on labor and employment developments.
In the meantime, we offer DEI program development, training, and compliance services….Stay tuned, let us know if we can be of service, and thank you for checking us out.
Please note that nothing on this site constitutes legal advice. It is for informational purposes only.
Please contact us for representation.
