Navex Global will present a complimentary webinar on the company’s annual Ethics & Compliance Hotline Benchmark Report, a tool compliance professionals around the globe reference every year to help measure their program and highlight areas for improvement.

The event will be Tuesday, March 21, 2017, beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern time. Anyone who registers but can’t attend the live event will receive a link that will provide access to the recording at a later date.

Navex studied more than 936,000 anonymized reports from their clients’ intake systems, analyzed the data and interpreted the trends.

This webinar will address questions such as:

• Are the number of reports increasing or decreasing?
• What’s happening with case closure times?
• Are retaliation reports being substantiated within the organization at higher rates?
• How do open door reports impact the data?

Register for the webinar.

A Harris County jury has delivered a $5.3 million verdict against the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) for wrongly disparaging Professional Janitorial Service of Houston when the company refused to recognize the union without a secret ballot by its employees. The judge added $2.5 million in prejudgement interest for a total of $7.8 million owed to the company.

According to a post on the website of Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing P.C., the law firm representing Professional Janitorial Service:

The case was filed 10 years ago by Professional Janitorial based on claims that SEIU issued an onslaught of false statements to try to harm the company for refusing to give in to the union’s demands. In the four-week trial, jurors heard evidence that SEIU officials systematically lied about the janitorial service to its customers and caused the company to lose millions of dollars in business. The evidence showed union members rejoiced and took credit for causing the janitorial business to lose some of its customers.

Attorneys Nathan Campbell, Adam Milasincic and firm co-founder John Zavitsanos of Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing P.C., or AZA, represented Professional Janitorial. Mr. Zavitsanos told the jury that SEIU is “an evil, evil organization that used an intimidating campaign of extortion to try to run the janitorial service out of business.”

See a video on AZA’s website.

Navex Global and Bloomberg have posted an on-demand webinar discussing discuss discrimination regulations applicable to the workplace, from what constitutes discrimination to what limits employers can put on the words and actions of employees.

The 60-minute webinar is available free of charge.

“After the 2016 election, multiple studies have noted an increase in workplace harassment, through discrimination remarks and actions, from both sides of the campaign,” Navex says on its website. “This has resulted in divisive and sometimes hostile work environments.  HR, Compliance and Ethics officers must take action to create a welcome environment that is harassment-free.”

The video covers strategies for developing policies and plans for training departments and employees to minimize and manage workplace harassment, and understand when disciplinary actions should – or must – be taken.

Educational Objectives:
Program participants will learn:
• What actions constitute discrimination in the workplace, including sexism, racism, and homophobia;
• Limits on how employers can approach and manage workplace harassment;
• Strategies for developing training plans for leaders as well as employees to minimize and avoid workplace harassment;
• What types of disciplinary measures might be taken by employers.

Who would benefit most from attending this program?
Human Resources leaders; compliance officers; ethics officers; anyone responsible for employee training within their organizations.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP reports on a study from the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC), titled “The Local Economic and Welfare Consequences of Hydraulic Fracturing.”

On its website, the firm says the study looked at “the costs and benefits of hydraulic fracturing on local communities in nine shale basins throughout the United States, making it the most comprehensive assessment of its kind to date.”

The study explored revenue generated in communities where drilling takes place, local income and employment, benefits to local governments, decreases in the quality of life, and increases in housing prices.

Read the article.

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Companies looking to waive class action rights of employees may instead be waving goodbye to provisions in their employment contracts, warns David Heck in Proskauer Rose’s Minding Your Business blog.

He discusses two recent decisions in California — one administrative and one in the 9th Circuit — that recently found that class action waivers in employment contracts were unenforceable as a matter of law and public policy, resulting in the removal of entire or partial contractual provisions.

“Together, these rulings make clear that class action waivers in employment agreements are subject to a high level of scrutiny, even if such waivers are not explicit and signing of the agreement was voluntary,” Heck writes.

Read the article.

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Peter C. Vilmos of Burr Forman writes in an article published by JDSupra Business Advisor that contractors have several reasons to require that their high-level employees (e.g., C-Level) enter non-compete agreements.

“Non-compete agreements, or non-competition agreements, are contracts into which an employer and an employee enter that restricts the work the employee can perform for another company when the employee’s tenure at the employer company ends,” Vilmos explains. “Typically, it’s illegal to intentionally restrain trade; however, some states allow employers and employees to voluntarily enter into agreements with future employment restrictions.”

Read the article.

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Worker’s rights opinions written by Judge Neil Gorsuch, President Donald Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court, are often sympathetic but coldly pragmatic, and they’re usually in the employer’s favor, according to a review conducted by the Associated Press.

“A review of dozens of employment cases he heard in his decade on the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals reveals a focus on texts and a fondness for scrutinizing definitions of words in legislation and the Constitution. Conservatives herald his strict approach. Many liberals say it too often results in workers losing out,” write AP reporters Denise Lavoie and Michael Tarm.

The federal appeals court judge has sided with employers 21 out of 23 times in disputes over the U.S. pensions and benefits law, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA. He sided with the majorty in all 21 cases.

Read the AP article.

Akerman LLP has launched WorkedUp, a new podcast that explores the ever-changing world of employment law and human resource management.

Hosted by New York labor & employment partner Matthew Steinberg, WorkedUp combines candid discussions, practical insights, and comic relief on the legal and business issues impacting employers nationwide, the firm said in a release.

The podcast will cover timely topics and emerging trends for 2017 and beyond, including the impact of the election cycle on employers, tech innovations in the workplace, and more. Episodes will feature discussions with a diverse roster of guests, including defense lawyers, plaintiff-side lawyers, in-house counsel, business executives, government agency representatives and other thought leaders.

Listeners may subscribe to WorkedUp on their mobile devices (iOS / Android) or listen on the firm’s website. Episodes are also available to stream at www.akerman.com/WorkedUp.

Akerman also delivers important developments in labor and employment law on the HR Defense Blog.

Listen to the podcasts.

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Uber Chief Executive Travis Kalanick said in a memo to employees that allegations from a former employee that she’d been sexually harassed at work, and that the company’s human resources department tried to cover it up was the first he’d heard of the incident. But two groups weren’t surprised, according to a report in The Los Angeles Times: women who work in tech, and Silicon Valley employment attorneys such as Kelly Dermody.

“There’s a phenomenon that happens in several industries, namely tech and financial services, where there’s a buffer around the men who are considered ‘high contributors,’ ” said Dermody, who has represented hundreds of women who work in the tech sector in gender discrimination cases. “They get to have a different set of standards, and their business success translates into them being above the law of the companies.”

Susan Fowler, the former Uber engineer who made the allegations, joined Uber as a site reliability engineer in November 2015. She claims that her manager at the time propositioned her, but Uber’s HR team told her it was the man’s first offense, so “they wouldn’t feel comfortable giving him anything other than a warning and a stern talking-to.” They also told her the manager “was a high performer,” writes reporter Tracey Lien.

Read the LA Times article.

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Employment and labor law firm Littler has added Gary Clayton as a shareholder in its Dallas office. Clayton joins from ADP, LLC, a global provider of cloud-based human resources management solutions, where he served as senior director of privacy programs. Clayton has experience in privacy, data protection, data governance and cybersecurity.

“Employers are facing daunting challenges in an era of rapid technological developments impacting the workplace and continued data breaches that often originate with employees,” said Tom Bender and Jeremy Roth, Littler’s co-managing directors. “With extensive experience advising with some of the world’s largest companies, Gary will further strengthen our ability to counsel clients navigating employee privacy and data protection issues in a technology-driven workplace.”

In a news release, the firm said that Clayton, as a member of Littler’s Workplace Privacy and Data Security practice, will work closely with practice co-chairs Philip Gordon and Rod Fliegel to counsel clients on compliance with U.S. and international privacy and data protection laws and regulations. Drawing on his vast experience building, implementing and assessing privacy programs, procedures and training, Clayton will also counsel clients on establishing privacy policies and strategies that reduce the risk of data breaches and exposure to litigation and government enforcement actions.

The release continues:

During his time at ADP, Clayton developed and managed global privacy programs for the company with an emphasis on employment-related data and served as regional privacy officer for Latin America. Prior to joining ADP, Clayton founded a consulting firm that advised several Fortune 500 companies, government agencies and intelligence organizations in the development and implementation of privacy governance and training.

Clayton has advised companies in the airline, automotive, energy, financial services, retail, technology and travel industries, among others, and has provided professional privacy services to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Office of National Risk Assessment and the Federal Trade Commission. Clayton has also testified before Congress, state legislatures, government agencies and international organizations on privacy, data breaches, risk prevention and workplace monitoring.

“Cybersecurity and data privacy continue to be among the most pressing issues facing companies. I’m excited to join Littler, a firm that combines a strong record of innovation with a well-deserved reputation as the foremost authority in advising on issues related to workplace privacy,” Clayton said. “I look forward to working with Phil, Rod and the many other talented lawyers at Littler who have a deep understanding of the key issues impacting employers that want to take advantage of the many opportunities offered by technology and big data, while ensuring compliance with the complex array of laws governing this space.”

Clayton has tried more than 30 cases to verdict or judgment in federal and state courts. He has also published numerous articles, reports and books on data privacy and compliance, and is a member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals, a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US) and a fellow of the Ponemon Institute’s Responsible Information Management Council. Clayton received his J.D. from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University and his B.A. from Louisiana State University.

Although there should certainly be some consistency in the pursuit of any workplace investigation, the investigation of discrimination complaints requires sensitivity to some special considerations that will not always apply to other complaints, according to an article published by Lynch Service Company.

The articleoutlines some of those considerations and encourages the reader to become knowledgeable of the unique challenges that discrimination investigations present.

Three common legal theories may apply to a workplace complaint: (1) disparate treatment, (2) disparate impact, and (3) hostile work environment. The article also explains the importance of understanding how a discrimination lawsuit unfolds, investigating properly, and, after concluding the investigation, re-evaluating the evidence in light of the guiding legal theory.

Read the article.

Executive pay that is disproportionate to a company’s past performance may also signal that poor returns are coming, according to a study released by shareholder activist group As You Sow and reported by Reuters.

The California nonprofit claimed returns for the 100 S&P 500 companies it had identified as having the most questionable pay went on to underperform the index by 2.9 percentage points over a roughly two-year period ended on Jan. 31, writes Ross Kerber.

Among the chief executive officers it labeled as “overpaid” was Discovery Communications Inc. CEO David Zaslav, who received $32.4 million in 2015. During the study period, Discovery shares fell 12 percent.

Read the Reuters article.

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Above the Law has fleshed out earlier reporting about significant staff layoffs at K&L Gates, this time with fairly specific numbers of people who have lost their jobs with the big law firm.

Quoting one of his sources, David Lat reported: “The firm let go nearly 200 staff across the firm, including director levels in Human Resources and Marketing. IT was the hardest hit, but other departments, including Human Resources, Business Development, the paralegal group, and marketing, also saw large numbers let go.”

Another source confirmed that the number of staffers affected was in triple digits.

That source also said he or she knew of no attorneys who were included in the layoffs.

Read the Above the Law article.

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Navex Global will present a complimentary webinar titled “Managing Workplace Harassment: Trends and Objectives under the New Administration” on Wednesday, Feb. 22. The event will begin at 9 a.m. Pacific time/noon Eastern time.

On its website, Navex says incidents of prejudice and discrimination are increasing in today’s polarized society—including harassment in the workplace. How do you mitigate this risk while tensions continue to flare?

Join this webinar to hear:

• What actions constitute discrimination in the workplace
• How to manage workplace harassment
• Appropriate disciplinary measures

Navex also will share strategies for developing training plans for all levels of employment to minimize and avoid workplace harassment from the top down.

Register for the webinar.

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Management’s standard response when an employee says they’re leaving the company is to walk that worker out the door immediately. But James Pooley writes on Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP‘s website that the standard approach could put confidential information at risk.

“When you first learn of a departure, you are engaged in triage with two parallel priorities: find out what’s going on, and lock down the evidence,” he advises. “In most circumstances that may give you time for an initial meeting to get some details and perhaps try to turn the situation around. But you also have to be ready immediately to take actions that guarantee you get control over your data.”

Pooley provides a detailed exit interview checklist that covers possession of data and any restrictive agreements that will govern the departing employee’s behavior in his new job.

Read the article.

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China employee non-compete agreements and provisions are an often-litigated area, writes Grace Yang in China Law Blog.

“Many employers (wrongly) assume that they cannot prevail in such a dispute because employees usually win,” she explains. “This belief is not only wrong, but also risky. It is wrong because Chinese courts do not automatically side with the employee; those rare employers that have done things the right way actually usually win. It is also risky because employers with this attitude and approach tend to do an even poorer job of making sure they have a well-crafted contract, complying with the law and preserving good evidence, which are keys to employer success in any employee dispute.”

She describes a case involving China employee non-competes and offers some key lessons to be learned.

Read the article.

Donald Trump’s executive order Friday banning citizens of certain countries from entering the U.S. for 90 days blindsided the technology industry, reports The Los Angeles Times.

Reporter Tracey Lien writes that the industry had thought that its main battle on the immigration front was over the number of H-1B visas — granted to high-skilled foreign workers — that will be made available each year.

But now lawyers are fielding calls from worried tech workers with visas and green cards. And they’re having to adjust their advice to those clients as each day’s news comes out.

“For those abroad, we are telling them to come back as soon as possible, and be prepared to face questioning and possible refusal,” Los Angeles immigration attorney Ayda Akalin said.

Read the Los Angeles Times article.

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The Association of Corporate Counsel, the world’s largest community of in-house counsel, will stage the ACC Mid-Year Meeting in New York on April 2-4, 2017.

The event will be at the New York Marriott Marquis Hotel. General Counsel News readers may receive a $200 discount on the registration fee if they register by Feb. 20.

An ACC release says the meeting will help participants prepare for changes in the regulatory landscape with sessions on:

• The impact of evolving regulations and enforcement trends on contracts
• Current and most controversial changes in employment law
• Reducing financial sector regulatory risk

Other activities will include:

• Engage directly with expert faculty
• Connect with your peers through multiple networking opportunities
• Have the opportunity to earn 12-14 CLE/CPD (1 credit Ethics eligible), 14 CCB CEU credits, and 3-4 CPE credits

Register for the meeting.

Disparate treatment and disparate impact are two very different types of employment discrimination that use two very different tests to determine if illegal discrimination has occurred and if an employer may be liable for such discriminatory conduct, according to an article published by Lynch Service Company. Having a better understanding of these terms and the potential liability they may impose on a business can help HR professionals and CEOs prevent expensive litigation.

The article covers anti-discrimination laws, disparate treatment, legal test for disparate treatment, disparate impact, and the legal test for disparate impact.

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Read the article.

The Rules of Evidence protects communication between attorneys and clients from being revealed to the other side during a dispute. It’s a basic concept found in federal and state rules of evidence throughout the country. It often comes into play when an employee or former employee alleges harassment or other wrongdoing, according to a report published by Lynch Service Company.

Harassment accusations are often a surprise. The company needs to figure out what really happened, and time is almost always an issue. It’s understandable that leaders want to start asking questions and investigating the situation.

If this happens in your organization, make sure your team resists the urge to jump into an investigation without an appropriate plan or your company could lose its attorney-client privilege. In many cases, the company accused of wrongdoing is unpleasantly surprised to learn that they will be forced to give the other side access to many of the internal communications the company assumed would be kept private. The human resources team and managers must navigate early investigations carefully and make sure the proper individuals are conducting them.

Read the article.