Donna Wagner is a Senior Solutions Specialist at Grand River Solutions. She has twenty years of experience as an investigator and in human resources management positions in a variety of industries including higher education, non-profit, health care, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical devices, and insurance.

Investigations

Over the span of her career, Donna has conducted approximately 1000 workplace investigations ranging from individual allegations, class action claims of systemic violations of company policies and procedures, and sensitive claims against high-level executives. Donna has investigated numerous matters with significant legal and/or public relations exposure which have been in local and national headlines. Her investigations have encompassed all matters related to employment law and corporate compliance, including Title IX ,Title VII, Title 20 of the US Education Code and have included: sexual assault and sexual misconduct, sexual harassment, discrimination, harassment (all protected classes) retaliation, workplace violence, conflicts of interest and ethics, disability and accommodation, retaliation and whistleblowers, defamation, leave of absence, wage and hour, and health and safety.

Donna has testified in depositions and trial regarding her investigations in state court and for the Medical Board of California. She has also been retained as an expert witness in federal court and has testified at deposition.

Mediation and Alternative Dispute Resolution

Donna has deep expertise and experience leading the mediation and resolution of single-issue and multi-issue conflicts involving two people or multi-party conflicts outside of the court system. Donna has been successful in helping parties reach transformative resolutions involving interpersonal disputes, manager and staff difficulties, faculty and student conflicts, breakdowns in working relationships, allegations of harassment, sexual misconduct and bullying, and issues arising from a grievance or disciplinary procedure.

Human Resources Management and Training

Donna has been responsible for providing human resources advice and counsel to senior leadership, faculty, students and staff in higher education and for global and domestic business segments in Fortune 50 companies. In this capacity, she has led organizations in the development of annual reviews, succession planning, organization structure development, job design, staffing, compensation, and organization change, and partnered with leaders on multiple human resource issues.

Donna has also researched, developed, and conducted nation-wide training sessions in-house for managers, human resources professionals, students and employees on conducting effective workplace investigations, writing effective performance evaluations and discipline and documentation and conflict resolution.

Donna has a master’s degree in Human Resources and Labor Relations, a Graduate Certificate in Mediation and Negotiation and a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She also held one-year internship as a Field Examiner with the National Labor Relations Board.