Karen practiced employment litigation for more than 25 years before becoming a workplace investigator. She shifted her focus because she wants to use her skills and knowledge to help businesses prevent employment discrimination and harassment.
Karen has practiced law for 27 years. Her investigations, for both public and private employers, include employee complaints of harassment, discrimination, retaliation, bullying, and other alleged employee misconduct. A fluent Spanish speaker, she regularly conducts investigations in which she interviews witnesses in Spanish.
Karen also provides expert witness testimony on the adequacy of workplace investigations, training, policies, and other employment-related matters. She performs trainings on harassment and discrimination and develops policies and procedures for employers, in both English and Spanish.
Before becoming an investigator and trainer, Karen worked as a plaintiffs’ side employment law litigator at Villegas Carrera, Inc. This experience helps her to determine risk and see where employers are vulnerable to being sued by employees.
Karen also served as a deputy city attorney and litigator with the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office, where she filed lawsuits against property owners who violated San Francisco’s housing, health, fire, and police codes. She facilitated meetings with city departments, community groups, and service agencies to solve issues of code enforcement, public nuisance, blight, and quality of life crimes.
Karen also worked as the supervising attorney at Legal Aid of Marin and La Raza Centro Legal, where she litigated employment and housing cases and managed a diverse staff, including volunteers. She facilitated community outreach meetings with the Latino community and services agencies, as well as conducting bilingual training and drafting Spanish and English self-help manuals.
In her free time, Karen enjoys reading, exercising, and spending time with her family and her new puppy.
“To compare is to despair.” — unknown
“Hastings College of the Law, University of California, adjunct professor, September 2009-present
Berkeley School of Law, University of California, lecturer in law, August-November 2018
University of California, Hastings College of the Law, J.D.
Loyola Marymount University, B.A., cum laude
Investigations
Trainings
Expert Testimony
State Bar of California
Northern District of California
AWI-CH
Formerly The Law Offices of Amy Oppenheimer, we are now Oppenheimer Investigations Group, with a new name, website and partnership structure.
Amy Oppenheimer and Christina Ro-Connolly discuss what organizations can expect during an investigation in this Corporate Compliance Insights article.
Christina Ro-Connolly to speak at the 2021 CLA New Employment Law Practitioner Conference
