Audrey E. Mross

Audrey E. Mross is a partner and co-chairs the employment and labor group. Audrey worked for 11 years as a human resource professional prior to her legal career, and she is highly regarded as a legal adviser to companies and HR departments locally and nationally. Audrey represents clients in matters involving discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, and she guides human resource professionals in proactive measures to avoid litigation. Audrey also assists with drafting employment agreements, handbooks, and other employment-related documents to comply with federal, state, and local laws.

An avid presenter, Audrey receives frequent requests for her presentations on employment law, anti-harassment, and other legal issues faced by managers and employees and she serves as a panelist at HR professional conferences and seminars. She has given more than 800 speeches, radio broadcasts, and webcasts since 1995, and she is sourced and published in USA Today, CNN/Money, The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, National Law Journal, Texas Lawyer, Dallas Business Journal, HR Magazine, SHRM Legal Report, HR Matters magazine, and Dallas Bar Association’s Headnotes.

Representative Matters

• Company-wide audits and edits of job descriptions, with analysis of FLSA exempt vs. nonexempt and employee vs. contractor status;
• Preparation of affirmative action plans under E.O. 11246, Rehabilitation Act and Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment and Assistance Act, as well as state and local law;
• Developed and presents managers’ training programs approved by EEOC and U.S. Department of Justice as part of consent decree and serves as part of employers’ affirmative defense against harassment claims.

Education

Associations & Memberships

American Bar Association
Labor and Employment section

State Bar of Texas
Labor and Employment section

Dallas Bar Association
Labor and Employment section
Transition to Law Practice Program Mentor

Dallas Human Resource Management Association
Life Member and Former President

Society for Human Resource Management, 1995 – present
Member

Kansas State University Foundation, 2018 – present
Board of Trustees, Member

Kansas State Texans Alumni Club
President, 1991 – present

Kansas State University College of Business Administration Dean’s Advisory Council, 2011 – present
Inaugural Member

Kansas State University College of Business Administration, 2019
Fellow

Kansas State University College of Business Administration, 2013 – present
Executive Mentor

Kansas State University Pre-Law Advisory Board, 2015 – present
Inaugural Member

Kansas State University Athletics, 2017 – present
Member of National Leadership Circle

Kansas State University Cat Counselors, 2003 – present
Founding Member

Dallas Chi Omega Alumnae, 1994 – present
Member

Texas Association of Business (Dallas Chapter)
Executive Committee, 2010 – 2015
Chair of Employment Relations Committee, 2010 – 2015

Texas Bar Foundation
Fellow

Dallas Bar Foundation
Fellow

SMU Dedman School of Law
E-Mentor

Honors & Awards

Best Lawyers in America, Woodward White, Inc.
2021 – 2023

Texas Super Lawyers, Thomson Reuters
2010 – 2022

2019 Kansas State University Fellow for the College of Business Administration

The Best Lawyers in Dallas, D Magazine
2014, 2015, 2019-2022

Phi Delta Phi

Bar Admissions

Texas, 1994

U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas

Employer COVID Vaccination Mandates: Yes or No?, Texas Lawyer, December 21, 2020.

Analysis: Employers Face a Major Shift in Employment Law After Bostock, Texas Lawbook, August 14, 2020

Pay it Forward.  That, My Friend, is Pure Gold (article on Kansas State alumni involvement and giving back to the community), Philanthropy Misunderstood:  One Hundred-Plus Stories From People Who Helped Change the World by Bob Hopkins, November 2019.

Strike a Balance. Or Don’t. The Path to Lawyering Isn’t Always Straight, Texas Lawyer, June 2019.

Introspection Can Bring Tangible Workplace Changes, Daily Texan Forum, January 2018.

Two-part article – Employee or Contractor: Self Examination is Good for the Soul/ Employee or Contractor: Changing Legal Climate May Complicate the Oil Patch, RigZone, December 12-13, 2016.

Texas Employment Law Handbook, Chapter 2-Employment Agreements, Editions: 2014-2015, 2016-2018, and 2019-2021

Handcuffed: Laws Limit Employers Use of Background Reports, Dallas Bar Association’s Headnotes, January 2014