Monique Gougisha Doucette
Shareholder – Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C.

Description of field of expertise

Ms. Doucette joined Ogletree Deakins in 2009 and is a shareholder in New Orleans, Louisiana. She has over 20 years of experience in handling and managing employment litigation with a concentration on complex discrimination, harassment and whistleblower claims for clients in a variety of business sectors including construction, energy, banking and hospitality. She is also a trusted adviser for clients on workplace misconduct and sexual harassment issues, and she provides engaging, customized workplace respect/anti-harassment training for employers. 

Ms. Doucette is the chair of Ogletree’s Workplace Investigations and Organizational Assessments Practice Group. She leads internal investigations of critical, and often sensitive and high profile, issues for firm clients. These include investigations of complex matters involving complaints against c-suite executives as well as allegations of pattern/practice discrimination, systemic inequity in workplace practices, executive misconduct, sexual assault, and unconscious bias. Ms. Doucette has assisted clients in various industries with organizational and cultural impact assessments, mitigating brand-altering crisis and developing strategic action plans based on investigative findings. She also trains HR personnel on best practices for handling investigations.

What advice would you offer to new attorneys interested in your field?

Always remember that the key word in the phrase “practice of law” is “practice.” I commit to continuously learning from every single case and investigation. There is never a time when you should stop learning, because there is always more that we can learn about our practice area(s).

Final thoughts…

Ms. Doucette is also an avid supporter of the local arts and education in New Orleans by serving on the executive board of directors for the New Orleans Ballet Association and the New Orleans Film Society, as well as the board of directors for Urban League of Louisiana and the advisory board for the New Orleans Opera Association. In 2018, Ms. Doucette served on the board of directors of the New Orleans chapter of the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM) as the board attorney. In August 2019, Monique was appointed by the Mayor’s Office as a member of the Ethics Review Board – the board authorized to enforce the Code of Ethics for the City of New Orleans and work cooperatively with the Office of Inspector General, who conducts criminal and administrative investigations involving city employees.