Cindy Petersen
Pompano Beach, FL 33064
Office: 563-940-4903
Cindy Petersen is an expert witness in workplace investigations and employment practices and completes complex workplace investigations. With more than 25 years in human resources and over 500 investigations conducted and directed, she has been designated as an expert witness by prior employers on workplace investigation, employee relations, and employment practice matters, including deposition testimony given in her expert capacity and proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board.
She serves attorneys in two capacities. She reviews investigations that others have conducted, assessing whether the matter was adequately scoped, promptly initiated, impartially conducted, and properly documented, and whether the conclusions are supported by the evidence gathered. That review produces a written assessment identifying what held up, where the process fell short, and what those gaps mean. She also conducts high-stakes investigations directly, as an independent investigator retained by counsel.
Her focus is executive and C-suite matters: allegations involving senior leaders, officers, and board members, where the written record is likely to be read by a board, a regulator, or opposing counsel. In her roles as an executive HR leader, she built and led an independent enterprise investigations function at a Fortune 100 company, designing the governance structure, intake and triage protocols, investigative methodology, and documentation standards. She has conducted C-suite investigations presented to chief executives and boards of directors across heavily regulated environments including nuclear energy, FDA-regulated biopharmaceutical manufacturing, aerospace, and publicly traded companies subject to SEC and SOX oversight.
Ms. Petersen is a member of the Association of Workplace Investigators and an accredited Florida Bar continuing legal education provider, teaching attorneys on witness credibility assessment and investigation integrity. She is available nationwide, remote or onsite, for workplace investigations, case review, investigation analysis, consulting expert work, deposition preparation, and testimony.
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
- Corporate Governance
- Discrimination
- Employment
- Human Resources
- Negligent Hiring
- OSHA
- Sexual Harassment/Discrimination
- Workplace Violence
- Wrongful Termination
- Q: Please list your professional accreditations, degrees, licenses, and certificates granted:
- A: Master of Business Administration (MBA), Human Resources Concentration, Strayer University
Bachelor of Arts, Social Science / Pre-Law, Mount Saint Clare College
Master's Certificate, Neuroscience, Tabor College
Florida Bar Continuing Legal Education Provider, No. 1077526
Advanced Investigations, Clear Law Institute
Reid Technique of Interviewing
Strategic HR Academy, RBL Group
Organizational Design Leader, INPO
Six Sigma Green Belt
Florida Notary Public
Fully insured for professional liability. - Q: Please list your affiliations or memberships in any professional and/or industry organizations:
- A: Member, Association of Workplace Investigators (AWI)
Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)
Florida Bar Continuing Legal Education Provider, No. 1077526 - Q: Please list any teaching or speaking experience you have had, including subject matter:
- A: Accredited Florida Bar continuing legal education provider (No. 1077526), presenting to attorneys on workplace investigations and witness credibility. Approved courses:
Beyond Demeanor: Memory, Trauma, and Neurodivergent Witnesses in Workplace Fact-Finding (Course CA-61975). 1.0 CLE credit including 0.5 Mental Illness Awareness. Covers how stress, trauma, mental health conditions, and neurodivergent communication affect witness recall and presentation, why demeanor is an unreliable credibility signal, bias risks in investigative judgment, and neutral accommodations that improve information quality.
How Investigations Go Off the Rails: Executive Pressure, Confidentiality, and Process Control (Course CA-61962). 1.0 General CLE credit. Covers the failure patterns that compromise investigations, how leadership pressure presents and how to hold the process, realistic confidentiality and information control, and guardrails for scope, timeline, and documentation. - Q: Have any of your accreditations ever been investigated, suspended or removed? (if yes, explain)
- A: No
- Q: For what area(s) of expertise have you been retained as an expert?
- A: Executive HR Expert
- Q: On how many occasions have you had your deposition taken?
- A: 15
- Q: What services do you offer? (E.g.: consulting, testing, reports, site inspections etc.)
- A: Investigation review and analysis. Evaluation of workplace investigations conducted by others, assessing whether the matter was adequately scoped, promptly initiated, impartially conducted, and properly documented, and whether the conclusions are supported by the evidence gathered. Delivered as a written assessment with specific findings.
Workplace investigations conducted. Retained as an independent investigator by employers or their counsel to investigate harassment, discrimination, retaliation, ethics, whistleblower, and executive conduct allegations, with a focus on C-suite and board-level matters. Structured interviews, thorough documentation, and a written report of findings.
Consulting expert review and case analysis.
Attorney consultation and deposition preparation.
Deposition and trial testimony. - Q: What is your hourly rate to consult with an attorney?
- A: Scoping is complimentary. Up to One Hour. Then $425 after this.
- Q: What is your hourly rate to review documents?
- A: $475
- Q: What is your hourly rate to provide deposition testimony?
- A: $475
- Q: What is your hourly rate to provide testimony at trial?
- A: $475
- Q: Please list any fees other than those stated above (E.g.: travel expenses, copy fees, etc.)
- A: A single rate of $475 per hour applies to all professional time, including case analysis, investigation review and analysis, research, report drafting, deposition preparation, and testimony.
Retainer of $3,000 required prior to commencement of work, applied against invoices as incurred. Once the retainer is exhausted, additional hours are billed monthly, net 15.
Travel time: $200 per hour, portal to portal, when no case work is performed. Travel time spent working on the matter is billed at $475 per hour.
Billing increments: 0.25-hour (15-minute) increments, with a 0.25-hour minimum per task.
Deposition minimum: 4 hours. Trial testimony minimum: one-half day, with the full-day rate applying after 4 hours of courtroom time in any single day.
Cancellation: deposition or trial testimony cancelled within 7 business days of the scheduled date is billed at 50% of the reserved fee; cancellation within 48 hours is billed at 100%.
Rush work: deliverables due within 10 business days of receipt of materials carry a 15% rush premium; within 5 business days, 25%.
Out-of-pocket expenses: airfare, lodging, ground transportation, meals, copying, and shipping billed at cost. Mileage at the prevailing IRS standard rate.
Invoicing: monthly, net 15.
Available Upon Request