Cara Yates Crotty

Cara co-chairs Constangy’s practice groups relating to EEO/Contractor Compliance, Reporting, & Analytics and DEI Compliance. Cara advises employers on ways to avoid litigation and has defended employers in cases involving virtually every aspect of the employment relationship. She also represents federal contractors covered by Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act in their affirmative action compliance obligations by preparing AAPs, completing EEO-1, VETS-4212 Reports, and state reporting, and defending compliance evaluations. Cara advised clients regarding the now-rescinded Executive Order 11246, and she has a wealth of knowledge regarding disparate impact and DEI compliance.  She also prepares privileged pay equity analyses for organizations examining their pay practices.

Cara regularly speaks for various organizations on these topics and conducts training for companies of all sizes.

Before joining Constangy, Cara worked as an Attorney-Advisor, Office of Administrative Law Judges, United States Department of Labor.

• Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America^® for Employment Law – Management, Labor Law – Management, and Litigation - Labor and Employment (2015-2022, 2024-2025)
• Chambers USA Guide^® (2016-2024)

• Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent^® Peer Rated for Highest Level of Professional Excellence   

• Pawmetto Lifeline, Board of Trustees (2021-present)
• National Industry Liaison Group, General Counsel (2016-2024)
  • Board of Directors (2006-2014)
• South Carolina Diversity Council, Board of Directors (2007-2009)
• South Carolina Industry Liaison Group, Board of Directors (2003-2009)
• Leadership Columbia, Graduate (2002)

More About Cara

What inspired me to become a lawyer

My father was a Special Agent with the FBI and spent a portion of his career designing the Bureau’s hiring standards to ensure increased representation of females and minorities as agents. Of course, litigation ensued. Hearing him talk about some of these issues ignited my interest in employment law, and the work he did then is amazingly closely related to my affirmative action practice.

An interesting case I handled

You won’t find much law on the Employee Polygraph Protection Act. Trust me!  I handled a case involving an attempted bank robbery and law enforcement’s subsequent polygraph examinations of my client’s employee. Not surprisingly, when police told my client that the employee failed the polygraph--not once, but twice--and that they thought he was involved, the employee was discharged. The case was just fascinating--investigating the employee’s story of being held hostage by kidnappers, learning the details of the police investigation, and researching the EPPA. The best part was convincing the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to invalidate the DOL regulation stating that it was unlawful for an employer to receive polygraph results, including passive receipt where no employer request for the information was made. 

What I would be if I wasn’t a lawyer

A lottery winner.