Melonie is an associate in the Southern California office of Dorsey & Whitney. Melonie represents employers and management in all aspects of employment law, including litigation and preventive counseling, with her practice focusing on employment, artificial intelligence (AI), and privacy issues. Her employment litigation practice includes defending employers in wage and hour matters, PAGA actions, large class actions, wrongful termination, harassment, employment discrimination, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, and privacy issues in state court, federal court, and arbitration proceedings. Melonie’s experience with dispute resolution allows her to approach employers with a fresh perspective in counseling on employment issues such as hiring, leave, discipline and termination, and litigation risk assessment.
As a thought leader who regularly speaks and writes on AI and workplace privacy issues, Melonie regularly counsels employers in various industries on a full range of employment issues, from performance management to workplace privacy and information security issues, including compliance with the CCPA/CPRA and other state and federal workplace privacy laws and best practices for managing employee data. Melonie is certified by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) as a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US), a designation demonstrating her understanding of U.S. privacy and security practices and their applicability to the workplace.
Melonie is a member of the Firm’s AI Task Force and is a co-chair of the wellness committee in the Southern California office. Melonie has been selected as a Leadership Council for Legal Diversity (LCLD) Pathfinder for 2024, and maintains an active pro bono practice focused on veterans and diversity issues. She is a known advocate for diversity in the legal profession and actively works to support and increase the number of attorneys committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, knowing that diverse teams deliver the best results for clients.
Before joining Dorsey, Melonie served as a law clerk to the Honorable Roy S. Payne in the Eastern District of Texas. During her clerkship, Melonie worked on a variety of cases, including employment discrimination and patent infringement.
