Felicia Gardner is a seasoned practitioner with extensive experience advising employers on employee benefits, executive compensation, and other employment-related matters as outside counsel and as an associate general counsel at a large financial institution.

Overview

Felicia focuses her practice on employee benefits and executive compensation matters. She works closely with employers of all sizes and types to design programs and packages to help them attract and retain high-level talent. She has over a decade of experience representing employers in connection with their retirement plans, including 401(k) plans; group insurance and other health and welfare benefit plans including HIPAA compliance and COBRA continuation coverage; and executive and incentive compensation arrangements. She advises and negotiates executive compensation and employee benefit matters related to corporate transactions.

As a former Associate General Counsel and Senior Vice President at Bank of America, Felicia understands the needs of her clients. Pragmatic and comprehensive in her approach, she develops tailored programs and counsels companies on the related tax and regulatory compliance aspects of each matter and program. Felicia has written and presented on a number of legal topics relating to benefit and pay matters that affect private, public, and nonprofit businesses.  She has lectured through Bloomberg BNA, at nonprofit seminars, and to the Council of Independent Colleges in Virginia. 

At Bank of America, Felicia led a robust team and managed employment-related litigation, agency charges and investigations, and compliance matters . Specifically, she worked to ensure enterprise compliance with the U.S. Department of Labor, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). She also supported the global executive compensation team on proxy disclosure, board governance, and corporate transactions.

She also monitored for, analyzed, and translated compensation law updates and cases surrounding pay transparency, payroll practices, wage and hour matters, and more. She managed a complex settlement through mediation; orchestrated end-to-end evaluations and process reviews to ensure OFCCP compliance, including downstream implications across the global human resources division; and advised on strategy for transformational process improvements.

Notable

Notable

  • Charlotte Business Journal 40 Under 40 honoree, 2021
  • Super Lawyers “Rising Stars”, 2019
  • Member, Junior League of Charlotte

  • Member Diversity and Inclusion Global Committee, YMCA of Greater Charlotte

  • Member, Leadership Council on Legal Diversity

  • Member Foundation Committee, Thompson Child & Family Focus

News

Affiliations

Affiliations

  • Member, American Bar Association’s Business Law Section
  • Former Program Committee Member, Southern Employee Benefits Conference

Education

J.D., Georgetown Law, 2009 cum laude

B.S., Hampton University, 2003 summa cum laude 

Admissions

  • North Carolina, 2009
Jump to Page

By using this site, you agree to our updated Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use.