Carolyn E. Gutowski

Carolyn Gutowski is a career-long civil rights attorney who has dedicated her practice to protecting employee rights. She began her career representing the Ohio Civil Rights Commission in her role as an Assistant Attorney General to then-Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine.

Carolyn was passionate about protecting employee rights and realized she would be more effective by advising employers directly before they had the chance to discriminate against their employees Thus, the next step in her career was representing and advising employers in employment matters. In that role, she advised and represented clients in employment matters of all types, from employee discipline and reasonable accommodation requests to federal lawsuits. Because her work has encompassed practicing before many public employment agencies and jurisdictions around the country, she developed expertise in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the National Labor Relations Act, and many others. She has particular expertise in the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and implementing effective reasonable accommodations in the workplace.

Additionally, Carolyn is a veteran advocate in the disability community and currently serves as an instructor in the Crisis Intervention Team certification program for the Columbus Police Department, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (“NAMI”), and Alcohol Health and Mental Health Board (“ADAMH”). In that role, she instructs first responders how to interact with individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. She also served on the Board of Directors of Dreams on Horseback, a charitable organization providing equine therapy to veterans and individuals with disabilities. Her experience includes serving on various boards at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, including the Parent Advisory Counsel and as a parent/mentor in the Connecting Families program.

Carolyn grew up in Northampton, Massachusetts, and earned her B.A. magna cum laude from the Ohio State University and J.D. cum laude in 2006 from Capital University Law School in 2009. She currently makes her home in Dublin with her husband, two children, two cats and a rescue pitbull. She enjoys spending time with her family, horseback riding, and hiking with her dog.