Katz Banks Kumin partners Debra Katz and Lisa Banks, along with senior counsel Carolyn Wheeler, will each speak at the American Bar Association's 2017 National Conference on Equal Employment Opportunity Law. The conference, taking place in New Orleans between March 29 and April 1, will cover a variety of subjects related to EEO law, including gender discrimination, class action suits, social media, Supreme Court review, and EEO risks and case evaluation.
Lisa Banks will moderate a panel on March 30 entitled, "Whistleblower Update: Emerging Issues and Best Practices for Bringing and Defending Against Whistleblower Claims." The session will cover critical legal developments in whistleblower claims, including the latest developments in the SEC and CFTC reward programs, recent DOL ARB decisions under SOX and Dodd-Frank, and the intersection of EEO law and whistleblower claims. The panel's speakers include Meagan Guenther of the U.S. Department of Labor, Frances Nicastro of Barclays, and Emily Pidot of Paul Hastings LLP.
On March 31, Debra Katz will participate in a panel entitled, "A Two-Part Roundtable on Race in 2017." The panel, moderated by Ann Fromholz of The Fromholz Law Firm and Andrew S. Rosenman of Mayer Brown LLP, will delve into how the modern political climate is impacting race discrimination litigation. Through both hypothetical scenarios and small groups, the session will "jointly explore the intricacies of a modern race discrimination case." Ms. Katz will be joined on the panel by the Hon. Jenny Yang of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Derek Lipscomb of Toyota North America, Grady B. Murdock, Jr. of Littler Mendelson P.C., and Marianne Goldstein Robbins of The Previant Law Firm.
On April 1, Carolyn Wheeler will speak on a panel entitled "Advanced Religious Discrimination Issues." The panel will use hypothetical situations to generate discussion of employees’ expression of beliefs inside and outside of the workplace (e.g. on social media) and whether they should be cause for concern; what to do when an employee’s job duties conflict with his or her religious beliefs; whether employers can impose religious requirements on their employees; whether employers can mandate vaccinations; and what employers can do to train employees to preserve a tolerant, neutral and non-partisan workplace. Ms. Wheeler will be joined by Mark Berry of Davis Wright Tremaine, LLP, Jeanne Goldberg of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and Nicole Husband of Warner Brothers. SMART's Kevin Brodar will moderate the panel. For more information on this event, click here.
