INVESTIGATIONS
Carla has been conducting investigations for governments and companies for the last twenty-five years. She began training companies on how to conduct lawful investigations in 2002. She possesses an ability to interact with witnesses to determine the problem and advise a course of action. Her knowledge of psychology and her ability to relate to people help her conduct fair and objective investigations. Because she has a background in governmental law, she is frequently asked by governments to investigate complaints and even to determine what is causing unrest in entire departments.
She also conducts in-house employee mediations. Companies and Governments hire her to resolve internal disputes when tensions between employees are starting to interfere. She meets with the employees and explores with them how to communicate better and works on resolving the tensions and disputes.
She is asked to investigate and advise human resources departments concerning employee problems. She recently testified in federal court, as an expert witness, concerning a recommendation she made from her investigation. The outcome was successful at trial.
In October 2016, she was asked by the City of League City to investigate an ethics charge against the Mayor. After her investigation was made public, the Galveston Daily News ran an editorial praising her investigation. The Editor found her investigation was “a bright spot” and found something good from a “mess”. The Editor wrote “The only smart thing that happened in the whole affair was hiring Cotropia to look into it.” “The best thing about the report is Cotropia’s clear, objective assessment of what’s really wrong with governance in the county’s fastest-growing city and her reasonable recommendations about how that could be corrected.”