Dr. Francine Schlaks has been an Internal Federal Mediator for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). She is a seasoned mediator with two decades of experience specializing in Employment Law, mediating employment disputes under Title VII, ADEA, ADA, and related laws, with a 90% settlement rate. Dr. Schlaks has successfully resolved over 3,000 workplace disputes in her career. Her other specialties are Real Estate, Insurance, Personal Injury, Securities and Civil Disputes. She has a real estate degree and Series 7 stock brokers degree to help mediate and arbitrate cases in those fields. She is also a mediator and arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association, FINRA, NASDAQ and the SEC. She has had contracts mediating with the EEOC, HUD, U.S. Post Office, Department of Forestry, TSA, Department of Fair Employment and Housing, Department of Insurance as well as many other agencies. She is a National Mediator and Negotiations trainer for the United States Air Force.
Dr. Schlaks has experience as a mediator with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, EEOC, HUD, working on housing and employment cases. She was Senior Mediator for the State of California, State Personnel Board handling all their Early Intervention Employment mediations. She was also Mediator for the California Department of Insurance, Department of Agriculture Forestry Department (California, Hawaii, and Guam), the Superior Court of California, TSA, the U.S. Post Office to name a few. She has served as lead mediator for small organizations, negotiating contracts with staff, resolving disputes between contract support organizations, and mediating workplace disputes for many corporate clients. She has successfully mediated extended disputes between the U.S. Air Force and Native American tribes involving issues related to use of tribal burial grounds to build missile facilities.
She has been an expert in natural resources/oil and gas as well as environmental engineering issues for 25 years. She attended the world-renowned Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado, receiving a M.S in Geochemical Engineering and a Ph.D. in Mineral Economics/industrial Psychology. She has worked for the United States Geological Survey's Department of Uranium and Thorium, doing cutting edge research on mineral exploration. She also served as a System Engineer with Martin Marietta Aerospace, working on their environmental impact statements and negotiating areas of impasse with the U.S. Air Force, EPA, engineers, scientists, and civilians who were impacted by the MX missile facilities at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Dr. Schlaks spent five years with the Law firm of Bartsch and Associates, conducting legal research for several law firms to support litigation focusing primarily on labor relations, real estate law, construction defect, mold, medical malpractice and personal injury. She used her engineering expertise and law degree to understand the mechanics involved in vehicle collisions and extensive medical background to interpret medical reports and evaluate the relative strengths of claims. She also worked extensively in labor-management relations during 13 years with Schlaks Consulting where she negotiated contracts, resolved employee grievances, coordinated recruitment and development of diverse workforces in engineering, real estate development, environmental and movie industry disputes. She ensured compliance with civil rights laws and affirmative employment practices.