Melanie V. Slaton

Melanie V. Slaton’s civil litigation practice emphasizes labor and employment law, including employment discrimination and employment harassment. Since 1988, she has tried more than 40 cases in California and Georgia, recording impressive results for private and government clients.

Ms. Slaton’s litigation experience includes complex class actions in both state and federal court. Ms. Slaton is the Chair of Hall Booth Smith, P.C.’s Labor & Employment Group. She has extensive experience defending employers in individual and class action wage and hour, discrimination and harassment claims, as well as in arbitrations and mediations. She has argued in front of the California Court of Appeal, United States Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeal, and is a member of the bar of the United States Supreme Court.

Before moving to Georgia in 2005, Ms. Slaton was a Senior Attorney with the California Labor Department, Division of Labor Standards Enforcement for five years. Prior to her work with the Department of Labor, she was a partner in a Los Angeles labor/entertainment firm for 12 years, representing both plaintiffs and defendants in a number of high-profile cases.

She has represented clients in disputes with both state and federal agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the U.S. Department of Labor, the Georgia Department of Labor, and the U.S. Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance.

Ms. Slaton has assisted in conducting workplace internal investigations and has substantial experience counseling companies and government entities undergoing major involuntary workforce reductions.

She has been recognized by Georgia Trend Magazine as a Legal Elite in the practice specialty of Labor & Employment. Ms. Slaton is a 1988 graduate of Berkeley Law School and is a Board Member of Columbus Scholars, Inc. and the Board of the Columbus Museum of Art.

PUBLICATIONS

•What Should Employers Do When Employees Refuse To Return To Work For Fear Of COVID-19? , May 2020, HBS Employment Updates Blog
•Georgia Appeals Court Narrow Justification for Workers’ Comp. Denial, April 2016, HBS Workers’ Compensation Blog

Recognitions

•Litigation Counsel of America - fellow
•Georgia Trend Magazine, Legal Elite in Labor and Employment Law, 2008, 2013 & 2014
•Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia’s Woman of Distinction, 2009
•AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell
•Peter Perlman Service Award by the Litigation Counsel of America

In The News

What Should Employers Do When Employees Refuse To Return To Work For Fear Of COVID-19?

May 8, 2020
Written by: Melanie V. Slaton, Esq., Mariel E. Smith, Esq., and Nicholas J. Garcia, Esq.As states struggle through the process of re-opening in the wake

HBS Columbus Partner Melanie Slaton to Lead Employment Practice Group

December 10, 2018
COLUMBUS, GEORGIA - Hall Booth Smith, P.C. Partner Melanie V. Slaton will lead the firm’s Employment Practice Group that helps clients avoid, resolve and prevail