In an ever-evolving employment law landscape, Shawndra Jones is a seasoned labor and employment attorney who partners with employers to help them remain legally compliant and minimize risks, including in relation to using technology in the workplace and implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives to promote equal employment opportunities.
Shawndra counsels clients across a range of industries, including financial services, healthcare, legal, real estate, and retail, on matters involving anti-discrimination, disability accommodation, family and medical leave, performance management, workplace privacy, and other issues arising throughout the employment relationship. Shawndra is also familiar with the unique issues that clients with international operations might face. Having been seconded within a global financial services institution, Shawndra turns to her in-house background and perspective to inform her approach to client service.
An experienced trainer, Shawndra has provided workplace trainings to non-managerial employees, managers, human resources professionals, and in-house counsel.
Additionally, Shawndra has handled matters in federal and state courts, before administrative agencies, and via alternative dispute resolution. Her experience includes disputes under Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and state and local laws.
In addition to her practice, Shawndra has lectured extensively and written on employment law and professional development topics. She has spoken at national conferences and has co-authored publications on subjects ranging from artificial intelligence in the hiring process to discovery of social media after employment concludes.
Shawndra, who was a Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Fellow in 2022, is deeply committed to fostering inclusion and belonging in the legal profession. She frequently presents on such topics.
Active in multiple professional organizations, Shawndra has served in leadership roles in committees within the New York State Bar Association and New York City Bar Association. She is currently a co-chair of the New York City Bar Association’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and is also a member of the Executive Committee of the National Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law Section.
Before entering private practice at a large U.S. law firm, Shawndra served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Alvin W. Thompson in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.
Shawndra earned her bachelor's degree cum laude with Distinction in Psychology from Yale University and was a member of Psi Chi, the National Honor Society in Psychology. She later graduated from Columbia University School of Law, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and the editor-in-chief of the Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems.