Overview
Raymond Perez is Of Counsel in the firm’s Columbus office and Chair of the Corporate Compliance and Governance Practice Group. He focuses his practice on advising employers on the development and implementation of compliance and ethics programs, codes of conduct, and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. In connection with compliance programs Ray also advises clients regarding workplace investigations particularly investigations involving executives and significant reputational risks. Ray also advises clients on the interplay between antitrust laws and labor and employment issues and counsels clients on best practices to avoid potential liability. Ray also assists clients with all aspects of their diversity, equity and inclusion efforts such as training, employee surveys, developing mentorship programs and creating business resource groups.
Ray counsels clients on the diversity, labor and employment reporting requirements resulting from newly adopted environmental, social and governance reporting regulations. He also works directly with boards of directors to establish compliance reporting systems and diversity and governance objectives and priorities. In addition, Ray works with clients when negotiating incentive packages as an integral part of the site selection process. Ray supports evaluating potential priorities and negotiating local incentives addressing tax, infrastructure, worker selection and training needs.
Prior to joining Fisher Phillips, Ray worked in-house for nearly 30 years for the U.S. affiliates of a leading multinational automotive manufacturer. In addition to managing day-to-day legal operations, he served as a Compliance Officer, North American Diversity Committee founding member and North American 401(k) Fiduciary Committee member. He oversaw complex workplace investigations and negotiated incentive packages in support of new plant site selection and major expansions of existing facilities. He developed antitrust training programs for purchasing and human resources personnel. Ray also served as the North American Chief Audit Executive for five years, overseeing all financial and operational (e.g., HR, Safety, Compensation and Benefits, IT, Environmental, Ethics, Purchasing Sales, and Marketing) auditing of the company’s operations including research and development, manufacturing, sales and customer financing. He reported to the Board regarding the performance of over 30 U.S. affiliated companies and recommended enhancements in legal and business operations.