Executive Coaching and Training Expert Witnesses

Monica Ballard is an Organizational Development Consultant with 32 years of experience specializing in preventing harassment, discrimination, and retaliation. She has been designated an expert HR witness in 241 employment lawsuits and has testified at trial 24 times. 

Monica has written over 20 workbooks and produced 4 web-based training programs on the prevention of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation, and has written 4 workbooks on Conducting Effective Investigations.  Monica has been interviewed on CBS News, CNN, and Fox News, and featured in newspapers including the WSJ, LA Times (8 times), US News & World Report, Time Magazine, Chicago Tribune, Miami Herald, New York Times, and others. 

Litigation Support - Approximately 50% of her cases have been for the plaintiff, and 50% for the defense. The EEOC has used her as an outside Human Resources Consultant, twice as an expert in EEOC litigation.

Areas of Expertise:

Monica has been designated to testify on the following topics:

• Company anti-harassment, anti-discrimination, and anti-retaliation training. Was the training compliant with State and Federal laws?
• Company policies and procedures on those same topics. Were the company's policies compliant with both state and Federal law?
• The investigation into employee complaints - were the investigations adequate and reasonable?
• Were the investigations conducted immediately, in an objective manner, and were they thorough and complete?
• Did the investigators come to a conclusion after the investigation?
• Did the investigators communicate the results of the investigation to the complainant, the alleged perpetrator and those others with a "need to know"?
• Did the investigators and the employer remedy the situation?
• Did they ameliorate the effects of the harassment, the discrimination and/or the retaliation?
• Did the employer guard against retaliation, and did the employer continue to monitor the workplace after the complaint was resolved?
• Did the employer have effective accommodations for employees with disabilities, and did the company engage in an interactive process with the employee with a disability?  Did the employer effectively accommodate the disability? 

View Parallax Education's Consulting Profile.

Prof. Makarand (Mark) Hastak, PhD, PE, CCP, CRIS, is the Professor and the Dernlan Family Head of Construction Engineering and Management as well as Professor of Civil Engineering at Purdue University. Dr. Hastak has been involved with the construction industry for the past 35 years providing his expertise through consulting, research, teaching, and service to the industry. 

Dr. Hastak is a world renowned expert in the area of construction engineering and management including risk management, profitability of Construction companies, process improvement, disaster risk reduction, resilience and capacity building, infrastructure management, intelligent planning for the built environment, project control, project management decision-making, and strategic planning. As a Fellow of the American Council on Education (cohort of 2013-14) at Cornell University his work focused on the various facets of Hybrid RCM budget, engaged institution, and Public-Private Partnership in academia.

Dr. Hastak is a Professional Engineer (PE), a Construction Risk Insurance Specialist (CRIS), and a Certified Cost Professional (CCP). He  has worked on numerous projects sponsored by the Construction Industry Institute (CII), NSF, State DOTs, and City Agencies. He is the current President of CIB (International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction) and the Chair of the Advisory Board of teh Global Leadership Forum for Construction Engineering and Management programs (GLF-CEM). He also serves as an Academic Advisor to the Downstream and Chemicals Committee of the Construction Industry Institute (CII).

Dr. Hastak  has authored over 200 publications in his areas of expertise. He has co-authored a widely used book on Infrastructure Planning, Engineering, and Economics (McGraw-Hill 2006 and 2015). Dr. Hastak served on the Education Board of the Association for Advancement of Cost Engineering (2004-2016). He was Editor for two AACE books, the Skills and Knowledge of Cost Engineering (6th Ed. 2015) and the CCP Certification Study Guide (2nd Ed. 2016). He was also the Editor-in-Chief of the ASCE Journal of Management in Engineering (2009-2016). 

Dr. Hastak has given over 50 keynotes and invited lectures around the world. As a prominent educator and consultant, he also engages in developing training material and workshops as well as regularly teaching professional courses for the A/E/C industry. His services include consultation, on-site investigation, data collection, assessment, and reporting. He has completed the 30-Hour OSHA Hazard Recognition Training for the Construction Industry 

Dr. Hastak Lectures at the 2015 International Conference on Building Resilience

Litigation Support - Dr. Hastak offers expert witness services to attorneys representing both plaintiff and defendant. He has served as an Expert Witness on twenty-six (26) cases since 2017 and was deposed on eight plus two evidence depositions. His services include case reviews, written reports, depositions, and trial testimony as needed. 

Areas of Expertise:

View Dr. Hastak's Consulting Profile.