Samuel Vitaro

is a Labor Arbitrator / Mediator / Fact - Finder in private practice.  Additionally, he provides consulting services, such as file and case reviews, and participation as an expert witness in lawsuits involving discrimination or civil service law.  He also provides training in mediation, EEO and Merit Systems Protection Board practices and procedures as well as other employment-related matters, such as prevention of sexual and other harassment and whistleblower reprisal.   Between 1982 and 1988, he served as an Administrative Judge with the Merit Systems Protection Board.  There he decided disputes involving disciplinary matters (e.g., discipline taken for sexual harassment, insubordination, theft, etc.) and EEO claims (e.g., disability, race, sex, religion, and reprisal.)  He practiced law privately in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (between 1971 and 1979), was employed as a supervisory trial attorney with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (between 1979 and 1982). He has a B.S. from Pennsylvania State University and a J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh.  His publications include MSPB Charges and Penalties (4th ed Dewey Publications 2011), co-authored with Renn C. Fowler; Preventing and Responding to Sexual Harassment in the Federal Workplace (LRP Publications 2009); It’s More Than Sexual: Handling All Types of Harassment in the Federal Workplace (LRP Publications 2005); the Merit Systems Protection Board Yearbook; Federal Sector EEO Update (yearly from 2004 - 2011, co-authored with Jeffrey Goodfriend and Gary Gilbert) (Dewey Publications); Understanding the Merit Systems Protection Board Process (LRP Publications 2007), co-authored with John Tapp; Get to Know Your Federal EEO, from Counseling to the Courts (LRP Publications 2007), co-authored with Jeffrey Goodfriend and Gary Gilbert; Adverse Actions and Performance-Based Actions (Dewey Publications 2011), co-authored with Renn Fowler; as well as numerous other articles and materials. He lives in Northern California with his wife and children.

Jeffrey Goodfriend

is a federal sector Labor Arbitrator, Fact-Finder and Mediator and a former Administrative Judge with both the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the U. S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB).
In private practice since 1992 he has specialized in federal employment matters.  He does in-depth investigations concerning allegations of misconduct by senior agency managers or supervisors or other especially sensitive issues, and also organizational assessments to determine the source of difficulty within an organization or when the capabilities of a senior manager are in question.  He provides training in the courses listed on our Home Page, most frequently areas such as: “The Role of Supervisors and Managers in EEO”; “EEO for Employees”; “Prevention of Sexual Harassment”; “Latest Developments in EEO Law and Procedure” (for EEO, HR and Legal staff); “NO FEAR Act Training”; and “Administrative Fact-Finding”. He is a frequent speaker on federal employment matters, at such venues as the Federal Executive Board (FEB) in Chicago and Philadelphia and the FEB’s Quad Conference and Disabled Opportunity Council in the San Francisco Bay Area. Publications include being the co-author, with Samuel Vitaro and Gary Gilbert, of the “Consolidated Federal Sector EEO Update, 2004-2011” (Dewey Publications, 2011) a book published annually since 2004 that summarizes hundreds of court and EEOC cases and suggests trends in EEO law, and the book “Conducting Misconduct Inquiries, A Guide for Federal Managers and Supervisors,” (Dewey Publications, 2009). He has also published a book with Samuel Vitaro entitled “Get to Know Your Federal EEO, from Counseling to the Courts,” (LRP Publications 2007).  Previously, he was an attorney working at Community Legal Services in San Jose, California (1977-1978), a Trial Attorney for the EEOC in San Francisco and Los Angeles (1978-1982), the Acting Federal Sector Hearings Manager for the EEOC in San Francisco (1982), an Administrative Judge for the MSPB (1982 -1983) and an Administrative Judge for the EEOC from 1984-1992, when he went into private practice. He has been an arbitrator on national and regional panels for the Department of Homeland Security and AFGE since 1995 and, recently, DHS and NTEU. He graduated from the University of Santa Clara School of Law in 1977 and has been a member of the Bar of the State of California since 1977. He lives in Northern California with his wife and children.