Ms. Wynter P. Allen, a Partner with Alden Law Group, has been practicing law with the firm since March 2010. Wynter brings to the firm an extensive labor background and represents our institutional clients, unions, and individuals.
Wynter takes an active and extensive role in the D.C. labor and employment law community. In 2018, the Mayor nominated, and the D.C. City Council confirmed, Wynter for a three-year term as a Commissioner on the D.C. Commission on Human Rights. The Commission is the agency within the D.C. Office of Human Rights (“OHR”) that adjudicates discrimination complaints brought under the D.C. Human Rights Act. The Commission also provides an appeals process to applicants found ineligible for employment under the Criminal Background Checks for the Protection of Children Act. Although the Commission is within OHR, the Commission acts independently of OHR in order to adjudicate cases in an impartial manner.
Wynter’s appointment with the Commission followed her earlier appointment as the Chair of the D.C. Public Employee Relations Board (PERB) from 2011 until 2013. PERB members are appointed by the Mayor with the advice and consent of the DC Council. PERB is an impartial, quasi-judicial, independent agency that resolves labor-management disputes between agencies of the District government and labor organizations representing D.C. agency employees.
Ms. Allen also served as a Member of the District of Columbia Bar’s Labor and Employment Steering Committee and is an active member of the Labor and Employment Section of the American Bar Association. Ms. Allen has also been member of the D.C. Women’s Bar Association and of the Greater Washington Area Chapter Women’s Lawyer Division (“GWAC”) of the National Bar Association (“NBA”), where she served Chair of the Judicial and Executive Appointment Committee.
Ms. Allen is a frequent lecturer and has spoken on various topics relating to labor and employment for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Women’s Conference, International Conference of Teamster Lawyers, Federal Workplace Conference, the National Employment Lawyers Association, the AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee Annual Conference, and the American Bar Association. In addition to sharing her knowledge with attorneys, Wynter also has taught law students. She served as an Adjunct Professor for the Elon Law School Externship Program in Washington, D.C. and Howard University School of Law. She is an American Arbitration Association Higginbotham Fellow and has been named as a Washington DC Super Lawyers Rising Star.
Wynter co-authored the article “The Development of Employment Rights and Responsibilities from 1985 to 2010” published in the Spring 2010 ABA Journal of Labor & Employment Law.
Wynter frequently volunteers throughout the Washington, D.C. area and in 2009 was a recipient of the Mayor’s Community Service Award. She has volunteered with Suited for Change and Capital Partners for Education, and she sat on the Board of Directors for the organization For Love of Children (“FLOC”) from 2008-2010. Wynter also volunteered with the Veterans Consortium Pro Bono Program and the D.C. Volunteer Lawyer Project. Wynter is currently a docent volunteer at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art.
In 2006, Wynter started her law career as Staff Attorney for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (“IBT”). She was a Staff Attorney with the IBT until March of 2010, when she joined ALG.
Wynter graduated from the University of Chicago in 2002 with an A.B. in Sociology. She went on to receive her J.D. from Wake Forest University in 2006. During her time at Wake Forest, Wynter was on the Staff of the Wake Forest Intellectual Property Law Journal. She also received the Peggy Browning Fellowship and clerked with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in 2005.
Wynter has been a member of the New York Bar since 2007 and is also a member of the DC Bar.
American Bar Association
- Speaker, Light Duty and Leave – How Much is Too Much? ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law, 2017 Employment Rights and Responsibilities Midwinter Meeting.
- Speaker, Accommodating Pregnancy and Pregnancy-Related Disabilities: A Heavy Lift? ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law, 2016 Employment Rights and Responsibilities Midwinter Meeting.
- Speaker, Unclean Hands: Issues Surrounding Employee Theft. ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law, 2015 Employment Rights and Responsibilities Midwinter Meeting
- Speaker, Is Off-Duty Use of Marijuana Grounds for Disqualification or Termination? 2014 ABA Labor and Employment Continuing Legal Education Conference.
- Speaker, Off Duty Conduct – Is It Grounds For Disqualification or Termination? ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law, 2014 Employment Rights and Responsibilities Midwinter Meeting.
- Speaker, Navigating the Everglades: A Survey of State Laws Protecting Worker Privacy. ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law, 2013 Employment Rights and Responsibilities Midwinter Meeting.
- Speaker, The Interactive Process: Negotiating Accommodations under the ADA. 2012 ABA Labor and Employment Continuing Legal Education Conference.
- Speaker, Employment Law Toolbox Series: Retaliation Claims. ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law, 2012 Live Webinar.
- Speaker, So You Think You’ve Got a Case? Your Employer Doesn’t Think So! Selecting Causes of Action and Identifying Available Defenses. 2011 ABA Labor and Employment Continuing Legal Education Conference.
- Speaker/Moderator, The FMLADA – Not the Name of a Puerto Rican Cruise Ship! ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law, 2011 Employment Rights and Responsibilities Midwinter Meeting.
- Speaker, You Know You Make Me Want to Dance, Throw My Hands Up and Dance! Shout! The Interactive Process Dance. ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law, 2010 Employment Rights and Responsibilities Committee Midwinter Meeting.
- Moderator, To Tweet or Not To Tweet: Ethical Issues in the Age of Twitter, Blogging and Other Technical Opportunities to Say Dumb Things. ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law, 2010 Development of Law Under the National Labor Relations Act Midwinter Meeting.
District of Columbia Bar
- Speaker, Preparing for Your First (or Hundredth) Labor Arbitration. 2016 DC Bar Labor and Employment Panel.
AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee Annual Conference
- Moderator, HIPAA and Workplace Injuries. 2015 LCC Annual Conference.
National Employment Lawyers Association Conference
- Speaker, Federal Sector 101: MSPB Basics. 2014 NELA Federal Sector Conference.
Federal Workplace Conference
- Speaker, The Dos and Don’ts of Reasonable Accommodations and Performance Improvement Plans. 2014 Federal Workplace Training & Expo.
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
- Speaker, Employment Law Primer 101. 2009 Teamsters Women’s Conference.
- Speaker, Immigration Issues: SSA No Match Letters. 2007 International Conference of Teamster Lawyers.