Speaking Engagement

PLI's Psychological Issues in the Workplace 2017

Wednesday, May 10 2:15 PM EDT to 6:00 PM EDT

Psychological issues in employment law are unavoidable, fascinating, and often the key to preventing and resolving workplace disputes.  When understood, they help to determine counsels’ day-to-day advice and litigation strategy.   When misunderstood, they exacerbate workplace disputes, divert attention from strategies that resolve conflict, and lead to missteps by employees and employers alike. 

Attorneys and mental health professionals can work together to understand and constructively address psychological issues in the workplace.  With the prevalence of mental disability accommodation requests, concerns regarding potential or actual workplace violence, and emotional distress claims in litigation, doing so has never been more important.  Yet attorneys and mental health professionals struggle too often to communicate effectively.   

This program brings together the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, prominent practitioners from the plaintiffs’ and management bars, psychologists and a psychiatrist to transcend the jargon, identify practical ways of working together, and to describe effective strategies to avoid, pursue and resolve litigation.  They will address in a clear and pragmatic way key legal and ethical issues at the intersection of employment law and psychology.    

What You Will Learn

• Update from the EEOC on key mental disability issues under the Americans with Disabilities Act, including reasonable accommodation issues and the undue hardship defense

• Perspectives from members of the plaintiffs’ bar regarding the pursuit of emotional distress claims in employment litigation, the use and misuse of mental health professionals, and mental disability claims under the ADA and local laws

• The current state of the debate regarding the presence and assessment of implicit bias in the workplace and courtroom, from performance reviews to jury selection

• The use, validity and reliability of tests that purport to measure implicit bias

• Ethical issues that arise when lawyers, mental health professionals and human resources professionals work together to prevent and respond to violence and bullying in the workplace

Chairperson

Stephen P. Sonnenberg ~ Paul Hastings LLP

Moderator

Neal D. Mollen ~ Paul Hastings LLP

Speakers

S. Jeanine Conley ~ Littler Mendelson P.C.

Edward Hernstadt ~ Hernstadt Atlas PLLC

Jill E. Huntley Taylor, Ph.D. ~ Director, Dispute Dynamics, Inc.

Christopher J. Kuczynski ~ Assistant Legal Counsel and Director of the ADA/GINA Policy Division, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Gregory Mitchell ~ Joseph Weintraub–Bank of America Distinguished Professor of Law, Thomas F. Bergin Teaching Professor of Law, University of Virginia School of Law

Debra L. Raskin ~ Vladeck, Raskin & Clark, P.C.

Susan Ritz ~ Ritz Clark & Ben-Asher LLP

Darnley D. Stewart ~ Outten & Golden LLP

George W. Woods, Jr., M.D., F.A.P.A. ~ Lecturer, University of California, Berkeley Law School

New York City Seminar Location**PLI New York Center**1177 Avenue of the Americas, (2nd floor)Entrance on 45th StreetNew York, New York 10036