2008 Labor & Employment Seminar
EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATE: Edward G. Phillips – Annual update of Supreme Court and significant federal and Tennessee appellate cases, with special emphasis on the applications for employers in key areas, including discrimination based on race, gender, age, and disability, harassment, retaliation, the FMLA and many more.
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: NEWS & PENDING 2008-2009 LEGISLATION: Stephen E. Kramer – The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) adds a new layer of risk for medical information re: applicants and employees. Update on the Employee Free Choice Act, PAID FMAL initiative, attempts to expand remedies and lengthen the time to sue for compensation discrimination claims, and amendments to the ADA to substantially broaden the definition of disability.
MANAGING A DIVERSE WORKFORCE: John E. Winters – Religion, national origin, race, sexuality, age, disability – today’s work settings are more diverse than ever and increasingly require employers to delicately balance all of the competing individual rights and responsibilities. Learn your clients’ obligations regarding the duty to accommodate religious beliefs, the right to expression, and the right to be free from harassment during work and at other times.
LESSONS LEARNED FROM BAD FACTS, BEHAVIOR AND DECISIONS: Robert L. Bowman – Employers make a number of decisions that affect employees every month and not all of them are smart. Take the easy way out and learn from the mistakes of others. Learn to recognize the warning signs for when employment decisions go bad, get ugly or worse. Then learn how to extricate yourself or your client from an employment law morass with no or minimal liability.
CYBERMANAGER: HANDLING EMPLOYEES’ BLOGGING AND SOCIAL NETWORKING: Charles E. Young Jr. – Your current, former or perspective employees may be active in the online blogging or social networking communities, complete with their own websites or personal pages on MySpace or Facebook. You might, however, be troubled by what you see there. This segment will discuss reasonable and appropriate ways to explore, monitor, and (when necessary) manage your employees’ online conduct.
EMPLOYMENT INFRASTRUCTURE: IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS THAT MATTER: Adrienne L. Anderson – Be prepared for both the everyday and the extraordinary employment law issues. Run your business smoothly by establishing and using the best policies, procedures and practices. This discussion will highlight the seemingly “little things” you can do that will have a big impact on your business.
THE LOOMING FMLA REGULATIONS: Beecher A. Bartlett – Be informed about the latest news concerning the proposed FMLA regulations and learn how they will change substantive FMLA requirements and employer/employee rights for FMLA leave.
ANATOMY OF A SEXUAL HARASSMENT COMPLAINT: John E. Winters (moderator), Betsy J. Beck, Beecher A. Bartlett – Employers are being held liable in sexual harassment lawsuits and in other kinds of lawsuits because they don’t recognize or adequately respond to harassing conduct. Using a variety of hypothetical harassment scenarios, learn the early warning signs for sexual harassment claims and how you or your client can investigate and stop a harassment claim before it becomes a liability.