Labor And Employment Law Section Fall 2021 Meeting

Labor and Employment Law Section Chair:

Timothy Taylor, Esq., Mediator & Arbitrator, Pittsfield, NY

CLE Program Co-Chairs: 

Karen Fernbach, Esq., Hofstra Law School, Hempstead, NY

Abigail Levy, Esq., NYC Office of Collective Bargaining, New York, NY 

Angel S. Cox, Esq., New York City Department of Education, New York, NY

Nolan J. Lafler, Esq., Blitman & King LLP, Rochester, NY

Fall Meeting – Day 1

Friday, October 15, 2021

4.0 MCLE Credits: 1.5 Areas of Professional Practice; 1.5 Diversity, Inclusion & Elimination of Bias plus 1.0 in Professional Practice or 1.0 Diversity, Inclusion & Elimination of Bias 

depending on Breakout Sessions Attended 

AGENDA – Day 1

11:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

Registration and Boxed Lunch pick up for Attorneys – Saratoga Ballroom Foyer

Boxed lunches are provided for registered attorneys only as part of their meeting fees.

12:15 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.

GENERAL PLENARY SESSIONS – Saratoga Ballroom

12:15 p.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Section Welcome

Timothy S. Taylor, Esq., Chair

NYSBA Welcome

T. Andrew Brown, Esq., President, New York State Bar Association

Program Introduction 

Abigail Levy, Esq.

CLE Committee Program Co-Chair

12:30 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.

Plenary One – The Future of Remote Work (1.5 Credits in Areas of Professional Practice)

As the pandemic finally dissipates during the coming months, many employers are being called on to decide whether and to what extent to bring the part of their workforce that has been working remotely back to the office. This panel will look at both the plusses and drawbacks of an employment world where a sizable percentage of employees rarely if ever actually see (other than on Zoom) their co-workers and superiors and what broader implications of such a new reality are for labor and employment attorneys.  

Moderator: 

Tracy Richelle High, Esq. 

Sullivan & Cromwell LLP

New York, NY

Panelists: 

Peter J. Rutigliano, Ph.D.

Marsh McLennan

New York, NY

Timothy D. Golden, Ph.D.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute - Lally School of Management  

Troy, NY

Devjani H. Mishra, Esq.

Littler Mendelsohn P.C.

New York, NY

1:45 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Coffee break

2:00 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.

Plenary Two – A Review of Legal Dos and Don’ts: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Plans (1.5 Credits in Diversity, Inclusion & Elimination of Bias)

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion plans are now “must haves” for employers and other organizations. In crafting a DEI plan, there are a number of legal “dos and don’ts.” This plenary will examine those legal issues, in the context of the Section’s own DEI plan, and then use that plan as a case study to review how the Section navigated this landscape.. Board Member Wilcox, who served on the Section’s DEI Task Force prior to her appointment to the NLRB Board, will also share current DEI efforts by the NLRB.

Moderator: 

Christopher D’Angelo, Esq., Associate General Counsel

Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc.

New York, NY

Panelists:

Gwynne A. Wilcox, Esq. 

Member 

National Labor Relations Board

Washington, DC 

Jay M. Siegel, Esq.

Mediator & Arbitrator

Cold Spring, NY

Jill L. Rosenberg, Esq.

Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

New York, NY

3:15 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Coffee Break

3:30 p.m. – 4:20 p.m.

CONCURRENT WORKSHOPS A, B or C – Saratoga and Broadway Ballrooms

*Select One When Registering*

Workshop A: Labor and Employment Issues Facing Health Care Employers, Unions, and Employees Related To The COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond (1.0 Credit in Areas of Professional Practice) 

This session will address topics related to the COVID-19 pandemic which directly affect health care employers, unions, and employees. These topics include mandatory vaccination policies, reasonable accommodations to vaccine mandates, bargaining issues under the National Labor Relations Act, OSHA’s Healthcare Emergency Temporary Standard, the NYS HERO Act, and other issues related to PPE management and hospital staffing. We will also discuss strategies for maintaining productive collective bargaining relationships during the pandemic and beyond.

Moderator: 

Karen Fernbach, Esq., Visiting Assistant Professor

Hofstra Law School

Hempstead, NY

Panelists: 

Bernard E. Mason, Esq.

New York State Nurses Association

New York, NY

Mark A. Gloade, Esq.

Northwell Health

New Hyde Park, NY



Workshop B: Racial Justice In The Workplace: Where Are We Now? (1.0 Credit in Diversity, Inclusion & Elimination of Bias)

A year after the social unrest and resulting corporate/ institutional investments around racial justice, where are we now? Lawyers are uniquely positioned to meet this moment. This session will explore how to achieve a collective language regarding racial equity, and the process of operationalizing it. From reflecting on organizational and individual power, foundational learning in examining socialization and capacity for action and disruption, and building collective capacity for navigating uncomfortable conversations, the panel will discuss a data-driven decision-making process to improve the conditions of and interactions with the people we serve.  

Panelists: 

Timothy S. Taylor, Esq.

Arbitrator & Mediator

Pittsfield, MA

Michael I. Bernstein, Esq.

Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC

New York, NY

Angel S. Cox, Esq.

New York City Department of Education

New York, NY

Douglas E. Gerhardt, Esq.

Harris Beach LLC

Albany, NY

Workshop C: The Legalization of Recreational Marijuana (1.0 Credit in Areas of Professional Practice)

On March 31, 2021, New York became the 15th state to legalize adult use and possession of recreational marijuana. Beyond establishing a regulatory apparatus – the Office of Cannabis Management and the Cannabis Control Board – the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (“MRTA”) created sweeping anti-discrimination protections for recreational users as job applicants and employees. This workshop will examine the scope of those protections, but also the scope of the statutory exemptions contained within Labor Law § 201-d. The panel will also explore the interplay between the MRTA and collective bargaining, including the MRTA’s impact on previously negotiated drug policies.      

Panelists:

Benjamin E. Mudrick, Esq. 

Harter Secrest & Emery LLP

Rochester, NY

Ian H. Hayes, Esq.

Creighton Johnsen & Giroux

Buffalo, NY

Kinsey O’Brien, Esq.

Hodgson Russ LLP

Buffalo, NY

Nolan J. Lafler, Esq.

Blitman & King LLP

Rochester, NY

6:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.

Reception and Dinner – Saratoga Foyer & Ballroom

Keynote Dinner Speaker: 

GWYNNE A. WILCOX, ESQ., National Labor Relations Board Member

________________________________________________________________________

Fall Meeting – Day 2

Saturday, October 16, 2021

3.0 MCLE Credits: 1.5 Areas of Professional Practice, 1.5 Ethics 

AGENDA – Day 2

8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Registration – Main Lobby

8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.

Continental Breakfast for Attorneys – Lower Lobby

9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

GENERAL PLENARY SESSIONS – Broadway Ballroom

9:00 a.m. – 9:10 a.m.

Program Introduction 

Karen Fernbach, Esq.

CLE Committee Program Co-Chair

9:10 a.m. – 10:25 a.m.

Plenary Three: Using Alternative Dispute Resolution to Address Intellectual Property Rights in the Employment Context (1.5 Credit in Areas of Professional Practice)

Inventions, creative works, confidential and proprietary information, trade secrets, licenses, restrictive covenants. The employment context provides any number of opportunities for employees and employers to consider protecting their respective intellectual property rights, including through provisions in employee handbooks and separately executed employment agreements. This plenary program will address how disputes over intellectual property rights can be efficiently and cost-effectively managed, by both employees and management, using various alternative dispute resolution processes, such as mediation and arbitration.

Panelists:

Theodore K. Cheng, Esq.

ADR Office of Theo Cheng LLC

Princeton Junction, NJ

Valerie J. Bluth, Esq.

Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP

New York, NY

10:25 a.m. – 10:40 a.m.

Coffee Break

10:40 a.m. – 11:55 a.m.

Plenary Four: The Ethical and Practical Implications of Regulating Discrimination in the Legal Profession (1.5 Credits in Ethics) 

Lawyers in private companies and partnerships are nonetheless subject to regulation by the courts and the organized bar and are not immune to allegations of all forms of discrimination. The New York State bar recently amended its misconduct rule for the second time to address this issue, but only after an active debate. This panel will address the ethical, moral and legal concerns of its supporters and detractors led by the key drafter of the ABA Model rule 8.4(g). 

Moderator:

Alyson Mathews, Esq. 

Lamb & Barnosky LLP

Melville, NY

Panelists: 

Myles Lynk, Esq., Senior Asst. Disciplinary Counsel

Washington DC Bar, Appellate Group

Washington, DC

Wendi Lazar, Esq.

Outten & Golden LLP

Former Commissioner, ABA Commission on Women

New York, NY

1:00 p.m.

Optional Event: Golf at Saratoga National Golf Course, 458 Union Avenue, Saratoga Springs

Fees include golf, carts and box lunches. Please arrive at Course by 12:45 p.m. Preregistration required: $135 per person.

7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Cocktail Reception – High Rock Room, Saratoga Hilton

Fall Meeting – Day 3

Sunday, October 17, 2021

AGENDA – Day 3

8:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.

Executive Committee Breakfast Meeting – Travers/Alabama Room

11:00 a.m.

Hotel Check-out