Dr. Speakman has a Ph.D. in economics with fields of emphasis in labor economics and econometrics, which is the application of statistical techniques to economic data. He has over 20 years of consulting experience and has served as an expert witness at trial and at arbitration. He has significant experience both with class and collective actions, with single plaintiff cases, and with employer-initiated audits of employment practices. Prior to joining Secretariat Economists, Dr. Speakman was an Economist at Welch Consulting.
His engagements involve:
- The statistical assessment of potential employment discrimination including:
- pay equity studies consistent with federal and state law,
- the statistical evaluation of claims or concerns of discrimination in hiring, promotion, termination, mass layoffs (reductions in force), ratings, and pay, and
- OFCCP audits of employment practices;
- The valuation of alleged violations of wage and hour regulations and improper pay practices including:
- FLSA exempt/non-exempt misclassification,
- rest and meal period claims under state law,
- uncompensated time claims,
- minimum wage claims,
- alleged breach of contract (failure to pay promised wages),
- the accumulation and payout of paid time off,
- rounding claims/concerns in timekeeping data,
- miscalculation of the regular rate used to pay overtime, and
- improperly computed or unpaid overtime;
- The organization and evaluation of large and complex databases including payroll data, timecard data, schedule data, and personnel databases as well as ad hoc data sources such as automobile GPS data, cash register receipt data, computer “packet” transfer data, email metadata, and task tracking or dispatch data;
- The computation of economic damages in employment discrimination cases, wage and hour cases, improper payroll practice cases, and personal injury and wrongful death cases; and
- General statistical issues.