202.888.7877

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​2020 PENNSYLVANIA AVE., NW, NO. 277 WASHINGTON, DC 20006

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​Before Joanne Waters established Verma & Waters, LLP, Ms. Waters spent more than a decade practicing employment law at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP where she represented employers and executives on a variety of employment-related matters. 
Ms. Waters has extensive experience in conducting internal investigations and training workshops on discrimination and harassment prevention, as well as negotiating and drafting employment, independent contractor, severance, restrictive covenant and retention agreements on behalf of employers, executives and partners. Her practice also includes advising employers on a wide-spectrum of workplace issues, including compliance with federal and state discrimination laws, wage and hour compliance, independent contractor classification questions, disciplinary actions, leave and reasonable accommodation matters, and hiring and termination issues. She also drafts performance plans, severance plans, commission agreements and employment policies. Additionally, Ms. Waters has considerable skill in conducting due diligence on behalf of buyers and sellers in connection with mergers and acquisitions. 

Ms. Waters has represented employers in wage and hour, discrimination, harassment, retaliation and breach of contract claims, and enforcement of restrictive covenants in federal and state proceedings and mediations, as well as before administrative agencies such as the EEOC, DOL, OFCCP, Montgomery County office of Human Rights, Prince George's County Human Relations Commission and DC Office of Human Rights. 

Ms. Waters received her JD, magna cum laude, from George Mason University in 2002, and her BS in Marketing Management from Virginia Tech in 1992. 

​Ms. Waters is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Virginia. 

​SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

*Co-Presenter: The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (DC BAR CLE December 9, 2024)

*Co-Presenter: ​​Employee or Independent Contractor? Properly Classifying Workers under the US Department of Labor’s New Rule on Independent Contractors (DC BAR CLE June 18, 2024)

*Co-Presenter: ​​Family and Medical Leave Act: Common Compliance Violations and Best Practices for Preventing Them (DC BAR CLE February 8, 2023)

*​Co-Presenter: Coming Back: The Challengers and Opportunities in Returning to the Workplace After the Pandemic (DC BAR CLE June 8, 2021)

*Presenter: COVID-19 Vaccines: Employers Do's, Don'ts and Maybe's (American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA) HR Conference April 12, 2021)

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Joanne E. Waters