Lucetta V. Franco
Lucetta V. Franco is a Senior Associate at Sue Ellen Eisenberg & Associates, P.C., working with partner Sue Ellen Eisenberg since April 2004.
Ms. Franco completed her undergraduate education at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts with Distinction in Communications in 1972. She earned her Juris Doctorate from Wayne State University in May 1975.
Ms. Franco’s legal practice focuses upon managing and litigating complex employment matters in federal and state jurisdictions and also in alternative dispute forums including arbitrations, mediations, and facilitations. Her practice also involves matters before state and federal administrative agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the U.S. Department of Labor. She also provides legal counsel in pre-litigation resolution of employee-employer disputes.
Ms. Franco has represented several senior-level executives in various employment-related claims in federal court and administrative agencies including but not limited to:
- sexual harassment
- Sarbanes Oxley
- contract breach
- violation of a non-compete agreement
- defamation
- breach of fiduciary duty
She has also represented clients in discrimination claims, business torts, minority shareholder oppression and ERISA. Ms. Franco has also provided advice and guidance to employers with respect to the hiring, discipline, and termination decisions, appropriate severance, and employee handbooks and policies. She has also served as a neutral mediator in Wayne County, Michigan and acted as a Corporation Counsel for Wayne County.
Ms. Franco has worked extensively with multi-million dollar entities, senior-level executives, and blue-collar individuals. Her legal acumen and authoritative demeanor has aided in the favorable resolution of numerous disputes.
Ms. Franco’s legal expertise has been tapped by the Michigan Institute of Continuing Legal Education, which has retained her as an Instructor to other practitioners in numerous workshops involving trial and deposition skills. She has also been an Instructor to her peers and employers alike in educating them on legal compliance in the myriad of federal and state employment statutes. Her recent publications include:
- Leveling the Playing Field: Using Experts to Defeat the Ellerth/Faragher Affirmative Defense in Harassment Claims
- State and Federal Whistleblower Statutes: A Legal Roadmap
Ms. Franco is admitted to practice in all state and federal courts in Michigan and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
