Photo of Melissa Caulum Williams

Melissa Caulum Williams

Melissa provides preventative counsel to help clients stay in line with the law and avoid potential problems, and she brings her in-house knowledge to every conversation. Her own background in a general counsel’s office means that she readily understands the challenges business executives face and how she can best meet their needs.

A frontline service worker at a Cinnabon was recently terminated after a video circulated showing her hurling a racist epithet at a Somali couple. The footage spread quickly with millions of views on TikTok. The employer acted swiftly. And, in a development emblematic of the current digital moment, the terminated employee has since raised more than $327,000 in online donations as part of “A Public Awareness Initiative.”

Many companies have invested in and prioritized diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) initiatives over the past several years. And for good reason: DEIA initiatives have been proven to improve employee recruitment, retention, and morale, and to help mitigate risks associated with potential disparate treatment and discrimination claims by employees.