Donald Gist

Donald Gist (born ) is an American employment attorney who served as the commissioner of the South Carolina Commission for the Blind and as vice chair of the South Carolina State Ethics Commission. He was the first Black American to serve as head of the commission, and as head of any blindness agency in the United States.

Early life and family Gist was born and raised in Jonesville, South Carolina. He earned a bachelor's degree from Benedict College in Columbia in 1972. He went on to earn a master's degree in history and a law degree from the University of South Carolina, graduating from the university's School of Law in 1978. In December 2013, Gist's son, Donald Gist Jr. was shot and killed in a parking lot of a Queens Mini-Mart store in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Career

South Carolina Department of Labor Before entering private practice, Gist spent 18 years with the South Carolina Department of Labor, where he served as Director of Labor Conciliation and later Director of Labor Management Services, functioning as the agency's deputy commissioner over all labor-management employment matters. Gist also served as chairman of the South Carolina Opportunities Industrialization Council and on the Governor's blue ribbon panel to study challenges facing the aging population in South Carolina. He was the first Black American to serve as head of the agency, and of any blindness agency in the United States.

Gist led the agency through much of the 1990s, overseeing its vocational rehabilitation, employment, and disability-advocacy programs and working on issues related to the newly-enacted Americans with Disabilities Act and the federal Rehabilitation Act. In 1994, he attended the White House National Disability Policy Conference. During his tenure, Gist worked closely with the Food and Drug Administration as an advocate for blind and visually impaired vendors and business owners.

State Ethics Commission In 2018, the South Carolina Senate confirmed his appointment to the State Ethics Commission. Gist served as vice chair of the commission during his tenure, and his term ended in 2022.

Private practice Gist founded the Gist Law Firm, P.A., where he continues to practice as senior partner on high profile cases. His practice centers on employment law, primarily representing plaintiffs in disputes with employers before federal and state courts. He also handles matters before the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the South Carolina Employment Security Commission, the South Carolina Human Affairs Commission, the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, and the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, among other bodies, and has litigated personal injury, medical malpractice, and criminal cases. He has appeared before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and in federal and state courts outside South Carolina, including in Indiana, North Carolina, Florida, and Georgia.

Gist served as co-counsel for the appellant in Dawkins v. Union Hospital District, a 2014 South Carolina Supreme Court case in which the court unanimously reversed a lower court's dismissal of a negligence claim.

Awards In 1990, Gist was recognized with a resolution by the South Carolina Legislature. He is a member of the Super Lawyers program for South Carolina.

In 2023, Gist was honored as a Legal Elite recipient by Greenville Business Magazine, Columbia Business Monthly, and Charleston Business Magazine. In 2024, Gist was named as a recipient of The Honorable Matthew J. Perry, Jr. Civility Award from the Richland County Bar Association.

In 2024, Gist received the Distinguished Lawyer Award from the South Carolina Bar.