26th Public Sector Conference and the 37th Labor and Employment Law Section Annual Meeting

In this #MeToo world, workplace investigations are facing increased scrutiny regarding what process is due to those employees initiating complaints, to those employees who are the subject of a complaint, and to witnesses. The panelists will discuss the concerns and thoughts from both the employee and employer perspective.

Moderator: Christina Ro-Connolly, Law Offices of Amy Oppenheimer

Speakers:

• Jachyn Davis, CSAA Insurance Group
• Jean Krasilnikoff, Siegel LeWitter Malkani

What exactly does PERB do, and how do they do it? Our experienced PERB Board agent and seasoned practitioners from both management and labor will walk you through the steps in the PERB process, from filing an initial unfair labor practice through the Board appeal process. Along the way, you will hear tips and tricks for success, and learn about new procedures and other changes under way at PERB. Our practitioners will also discuss trends and their predictions for what the future holds.

Moderator: Nicole Heeder, SEIU Local 1000

Speakers:

• James Coffey, PERB Senior Regional Attorney
• Adrianna E. Guzman, Leibert Cassidy Whitmore
• Kathleen Mastagni Storm, Mastagni Holstedt

Experienced and dynamic speakers will provide an overview of the latest developments over the past year in California public sector labor and employment law. The review will include updates on recent court decisions, new legislation, and administrative agency decisions.

Moderator: Janet Cory Sommer, California Public Employers Labor Relations Association

Speakers:

• Tim Yeung, Sloan Sakai Yeung & Wong LLP
• Kerianne Steele, Weinberg Roger & Rosenfeld APC

Justice Martin J. Jenkins, Judicial Appontments Secretary for Governor Gavin Newsom, will provide a presentation reflecting on his legal career in the public sector. He will also discuss the importance of diversity and the role it plays in the law and society today.

Speaker: Justice Martin J. Jenkins, Judicial Appointments Secretary for Governor Gavin Newsom

Panelists will analyze the handling of a request for reasonable accommodation in the public sector workplace from the perspective of the employer, the employee, and the mediator. The discussion will cover the interactive process, employer’s decision, anticipated litigation, dispute resolution, and trial.

Moderator: Jorge Aguilar II, California Department of Justice

Speakers:

• Barbara Lawless, Lawless & Lawless
• Melissa Kiniyalocts, Santa Clara County Counsel’s Office
• Phyllis W. Cheng, ADR Services, Inc.

Diversity is in the news but what can you do to bring it into your workplace? Recognizing implicit bias is only half the battle. Learn tangible ways to overcome bias in hiring and upward mobility, as well as how to foster a culturally cooperative environment that won’t end in countless lawsuits.

Moderator: Katherine Thomson, Arbitrator, Mediator, Factfinder

Speakers:

• Prof. Joan Williams, Center for WorkLife Law, UC Hastings College of the Law
• Shondella Reed, University of California, Office of the General Counsel
• Dale Brodsky, Beeson Tayer & Bodine

Administrative hearings are a ubiquitous part of public sector legal practice, but their rules and procedures are very different from civil litigation. Three State administrative law judges share their views on effective case preparation and presentation and discuss pitfalls to avoid before and during the hearing.

Moderator: Marie Nakamura, Dannis Woliver Kelley

Speakers:

• Dee Brown, Administrative Law Judge, Office of Administrative Hearings
• Shawn Cloughesy, Chief Administrative Law Judge, Public Employment Relations Board
• Dian Vorters, Presiding Administrative Law Judge, Office of Administrative Hearings

Join an engaging discussion focusing on workplace violence issues including what policies and practices should employers have in place to increase awareness, recognition and reporting of actual or potential incidents of workplace violence. The panel will discuss being able to identify some warning signs of workplace violence and how to assess the risk and deploy measures that are proportionate to the threat, including using outside consultants as part of the threat assessment process.

Speakers:

• Dr. Gerald Sweet, William James College
• Adam J. Fiss, Littler Mendelson P.C.

This panel will discuss the free speech rights of California public employees, with an emphasis on whistleblower rights under California statutes and post- Garcetti case law. In addition, we will explore the boundaries of political speech in the workplace. What counts as “political”? Do different workplaces confer a different scope of protected speech? When does speech become so disruptive that it loses its protection? 2020 will be an interesting year, with strong and conflicting opinions bound to be expressed by employees, which adds an urgency for attorneys to be prepared to counsel their clients on their legal rights and obligations in these contentious times.

Moderator: Arlene Prater, Best, Best & Krieger LLP

Speakers:

• Shilpi Agarwal, ACLU Foundation of Northern California
• Priscilla Winslow, Former Board Member of PERB and former Assistant Chief Counsel of the California Teachers Association

In this fast-paced presentation, Anthony J. Oncidi and Ramit Mizrahi will cover the top employment law cases from the past year, with an emphasis on the cases of greatest utility to employment law practitioners.

Speakers:

• Ramit Mizrahi, Mizrahi Law, APC
• Anthony J. Oncidi, Proskauer Rose LLP

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) under the Trump Administration has continued to overturn precedent and apply its decisions retroactively, including in the areas of the duty to bargain, appropriate bargaining units, union access rights, and has noticed rule-making on joint employment, what constitutes protected speech within the context of a labor dispute, whether to exempt college/university students from the Act, and representation rules. The panel of experts will provide a lively discussion on these changes and the impact it has on their union and employer clients.

Moderator: Christy J. Kwon, Regional Attorney, National Labor Relations Board, Region 32

Speakers:

• Susan Garea, Beeson, Tayer & Bodine, APC
• Marina C. Gruber, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP

Our panel of expert employment litigators and a sitting Superior Court Judge will discuss the most pesky and re-occurring evidentiary issues that arise during discrimination cases including: “Me Too” evidence, the discovery and admissibility of social media posts & electronic communications (including text messages, telephone calls, and the contents of hard-drives), the scope of defense mental examinations, right-to-privacy limitations on discovery, and whether questions about immigration status are ever permissible.

Moderator: The Honorable Brad Seligman, California Superior Court, County of Alameda

Speakers:

• Erin Pulaski, Rudy Exelrod, Zieff & Lowe, LLP
• Dipanwita Deb Amar, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP

Farhana Khera, Executive Director of Muslim Advocates, will discuss working on the frontlines of today’s civil rights movement, including her efforts to use legal tools such as high-impact lawsuits and legislative reforms to increase diversity and inclusion at the workplace for Americans of all faiths.

Speaker: Farhana Khera, President and Executive Director of Muslim Advocates

Understand the factors that contribute to high rates of stress, anxiety and depression in our profession. This panel will identify wellness resources and practical tools to help successfully manage a law practice. The speakers include the former director of the State Bar of California’s Lawyer Assistance Program and a lawyer, author and productivity consultant who created a system for lawyers to take care of themselves first.

Speakers:

• Richard Carlton, Coping Skills for Legal Professionals
• Ritu Goswamy, Legal Productivity Solutions, LLC

This panel will explore three primary topics: (1) current laws regulating marijuana, including what exactly California legalized, the current state of federal law and enforcement, (2) the use of medical marijuana and cannabis products by employees in California and in other states and best practices for workplace policies, and (3) employment issues that arise in the cannabis industry. Included in this discussion will be a brief discussion of the Federal legalization of hemp and the impact that has had on the workplace.

Moderator: Jonathan Judge, Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo P.C.

Speakers:

• Esra Hudson, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP
• Danielle Lucido, Engineers and Scientists of California, IFPTE Local 20, AFL-CIO & CLC

This year marked significant developments in wage and hour law both in the legislature and judiciary. Expert practitioners will discuss some of those developments including arbitrating wage and hour cases and the effect of AB 51 which prohibits retaliation for the refusal to sign an arbitration agreement; discrete issues in litigating and settling PAGA cases; the impact of the de minimis ruling articulated by the Cal. Supreme Court in Troester v. Starbucks Corp.; the gig economy, worker classification, and AB5; and new DOL regulations and opinion letters.

Moderator: Gay Grunfeld, Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP

Speakers:

• Laura Ho, Goldstein, Borgen, Dardarian & Ho
• Joan Tucker Fife, Winston & Strawn LLP

Advanced technologies are at the forefront of nearly every major industry and thought leaders worldwide are discussing their impact on our enterprises and workforces. Join top executives and leaders from some of the world’s leading organizations for an opportunity to hear panel discussions regarding: (1) the ethical and potential labor challenges of Artificial Intelligence and robotics in the workplace; (2) the impact of technology on employees, jobs and society; and (3) practical steps to prepare for the evolution of technology advancements and to prepare for the future of work.

Moderator: Maribel Hernandez, Maxim Integrated

Speakers:

• Natalie Pierce, Littler Mendelson P.C.
• Michael Cole, Gusto
• Jaimi Kerr, LinkedIn Corporation
• Doug Bloch, Teamsters Joint Council 7

Cross examination is a goldmine that must be mined early. Seasoned litigators know the key to an effective cross is thorough preparation. In this panel, two experienced trial attorneys will provide a detailed discussion of pre-trial preparation and trial examination from both the plaintiff and defense perspective. Drawing on real and hypothetical examples, the session will teach practitioners how to prepare for deposition and trial (and the added benefits for use at mediation), and provide useful tips and tools such as phrasing of questions, strategic planning, and the benefits and best use of videotaped testimony. Learn what wins and loses cases, and factors that influence juries.

Moderator: Deborah Maddux, Van Dermyden Maddux Law Corporation

Speakers:

• J. Bernard Alexander, III, Alexander Krakow Glick LLP
• Janine Simerly, Cozen O’Connor