Welcome!

The Labor and Employment Law Section of the New York State Bar Association is pleased to welcome Section members and visitors.  Our Section brings together members from across the full spectrum of labor and employment law, including representatives of labor organizations, management and individuals; neutrals; academics; and government representatives.  We invite everyone with an interest in workplace issues to join our Section, benefit from our experience and expertise, and enjoy our camaraderie.  New members are always welcome.  (You can join online here.)

We hope you will take the time to explore the many features of our website (some of which are accessible only to Section members), which include: access to online case research through Loislaw, a searchable directory of members, the Labor and Employment Law Journal, and papers and presentations from recent CLE programs.  For information on recent legal developments, check our blog and follow us on LinkedIn.
If you have questions about the Section and the benefits we offer, please contact John Gaal, our Section Chair, Jon Ben-Asher, our Chair-elect, or Alyson Mathews and Molly Thomas Jensen, Co-Chairs of our Membership Committee.  We hope you will join us.

Diversity Fellowship Program: 

The LEL Section is dedicated to enhancing diversity within our Section and within the profession.  For a number of years we have sponsored Diversity Fellows as a way of helping to achieve those goals. The deadline to be considered as a 2013-2014 is June 30, 2013. Click here for more information.

Meet our current Fellows, Mariam Manichaikul and Asad Rizvi. 

Upcoming Events:

Fall Meeting 2013
It is never too soon to plan…..our  Fall 2013 program will be held in Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ontario, Canada, October 4 to 6, 2013. Detailed program information will be available in July, 2013.  Please keep in mind that if you plan on attending this meeting you will need either a passport or an enhanced driver’s license to cross the border.

LEL Mentoring Program

The members of our Section take great pride in mentoring lawyers new to the profession. We recently institutionalized and expanded our efforts in this regard by establishing a formal Section-wide Mentoring Program for new attorneys interested in a career in the field of labor and employment law. This program introduces new lawyers to the Section and provides them with increased exposure to seasoned labor and employment law lawyers.

Recent events for our current class of 27 mentees have included an oral argument sit-in and discussion with Judge Denny Chin of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. A group of mentors and mentees met with Judge Chin before oral arguments for an overview of the day's cases and an explanation of some of the procedural aspects of oral argument before the Court. The group observed oral arguments in five cases before a three-judge panel comprised of Judges Raggi, Leval, and Chin, including a case involving employment issues related to HIPAA. After the arguments, Judge Chin took questions from the group, commented on oral argument in the Second Circuit, and provided general appellate practice and advocacy tips for the group. The event provided an extremely interesting "inside" look at the Court.

In addition, in September, the Program hosted Regional Attorney Elizabeth Grossman and Supervisory Trial Attorney Nora Curtin of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for a discussion regarding public sector legal careers. Ms. Grossman and Ms. Curtin discussed how their career paths led them to EEOC and some of the benefits of working at the Commission, including trial experience and the ability to engage in substantive legal work early in their legal careers. Ms. Grossman also explained how cases move through EEOC and recommended some best practices for parties working with EEOC investigators and attorneys. Ms. Grossman and Ms. Curtin provided the mentees with a valuable perspective on legal careers in government.

We hope you can join us for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres with L&E Section members, as well as remarks from Hon. James C. Francis of the Southern District of New York, along with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres with L&E Section members. The event will be held on June 18th at 6:30pm at Paul Hastings LLP (75 East 55th Street, Room 701 New York, NY 10022) RSVP by June 13th to bgould@nysba.org 

Recent Events

The LEL Section is a very active section that provides a number of opportunities for practitioners to both learn and become engaged.

The Section’s recent Fall meeting included CLE programs on workplace speech, joint and other employment relationships, learning disabilities in the workplace, the impact of the Supreme Court’s Amara decision, NLRB developments, ethics and the effective use of technology in trials and hearings. (If you are a Section member, you can access program papers here.) Held at the Kaatskill Mountain Club at Hunter Mountain, the meeting provided a wonderful opportunity for members to not only hone their legal skills, but to share some quality time socializing.

In November, the Section hosted two additional CLE programs. The first, co-hosted with Hofstra’s Labor and Employment Law Journal, focused on Social Media and the Public Sector. Later in November, the Section co-hosted a webinar on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act with the Health Law Section.

In January, we hosted a program in conjunction with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on “Helping the Pro Se Litigant Mediate Employment Disputes.”

On February 6, 2013, the Labor and Employment Law Section’s NewLawyers Committee hosted Karen P. Fernbach, the Regional Director of Region 2 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), for a discussion and cocktail reception with participants in the Section’s Mentoring Program and members of the Committee.  Sullivan & Cromwell’s New York City office hosted the event.  Director Fernbach discussed career paths and opportunities with our Mentees, and encouraged those in attendance to participate in Bar Association activities as a way to meet and get to know both “friends” and “adversaries” alike.  In addition to allowing our Mentees to socialize with more senior members of the Section, the evening provided new lawyers with an interesting and valuable perspective on legal careers in government.

A cocktail and networking reception for our current and past Diversity Fellows was held on March 4, 2013 at the offices of Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe. Approximately 60 people attended and met with our featured guest, Chai Feldblum, a Commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Please continue to check this site for news of more events.

Annual Meeting

This January, our Annual Meeting Program was held at The Hilton New York on Friday, January 25, 2013. CLE programs were offered covering developments in wage and hour law, ethics and e-discovery, ADR and neuroscience, expats and secondees in the United States and related immigration issues, restrictive covenants, and government mergers and consolidations.   Our luncheon speaker on January 25 was the Hon. Mark Gaston Pearce, Chair of the National Labor Relations Board.

Papers presented at the 2013 Annual Meeting are now available to Section Members here. 

The section would like to thank all of our sponsors for the Annual Meeting. See a complete list here. 

At our Business Meeting held in conjunction with the Annual Meeting Program, the membership elected Ron Dunn as Section Chair-elect.  Ron, of Gleason, Dunn, Walsh & O’Shea in Albany, will begin his term as Chair-elect at our Spring Executive Committee Meeting, at which time current Chair-elect, Jonathan Ben-Asher, will take over as Chair.  Congratulations Ron!

 Section Report

The LEL Section, together with the Commercial and Federal Litigation Section, submitted a report to the NYSBA House of Delegates entitled New York WARN: A Flawed Statute That Can and Should Be Fixed. This report highlights a number of concerns regarding the drafting of New York’s WARN statute and provides concrete “fixes.”  We are pleased to announce that the report was adopted by the Executive Committee of the NYSBA and will be presented to the New York State Legislature.  To read a copy of the report, click here. 

Papers and Presentations

Papers and Presentations from our 2012 Annual Meeting and our 2012 Fall Meeting, as well as select earlier papers, are available to Section members here.

Labor and Employment Law Journal

Section members can access back issues of the Labor and Employment Law Journal here. Check out articles on unemployment insurance eligibility, labor arbitrations in NYC teacher cases, family responsibilities discrimination after the EEOC’s enforcement guidance, ethics and more.

 Also available for review, without Section Membership, is Disability Rights Law For Labor & Employment Attorneys in New York, by Mark H. Leeds, Esq.

Lifetime Achievement Award

At the Section’s January Annual Meeting this year, we awarded our inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award. Designed to recognize significant contributions to the Labor and Employment Law Section, our first recipient is Frank Nemia.  Frank, who currently is with Coughlin and Gerhart and who has practiced Labor and Employment Law for more than 50 years, was instrumental in the founding of our Section in 1975.  From roughly 40 original members, we have grown to nearly 2600 members.  Thanks, Frank, for not only getting us started, but for all of your contributions in the years since then. 

Margery Gootnick Commemorative Lecture
In April of 2012, the Section lost one of its true treasures with the passing of Margery Gootnick, long time Section and Executive Committee member.  It was announced at this year’s Annual Meeting that beginning in January of 2014, we will honor Margery’s memory with a designated Commemorative Lecture as part of each year’s Annual Program. 

Writing Competition and Scholarship Award Winner
At the luncheon for our Annual Meeting, we announced the following writing competition and scholarship award winners:

Stein Writing Competition Winners

• 1^st Place Winner ($3,000): Andrew Midgen –  3L, St. John’s University Law School, “The Future Scope of the Antitrust Exemption in Professional Sports”
• 2^nd Place Winner ($2,000): Amanda Jaret –  3L, St. John’s University Law School, “Other Mutual Aid Or Protection”: Collective Legal Claims As Concerted Activity In D. R. Horton, INC. and Beyond”
• 3^rd Place Winner ($1,000): Jon Dueltgen – 3L, University of Pennsylvania Law School, “Mezonos Brooklyn Bakery: A Bridge Too Far for Hoffman Plastics” 
  

Kaynard Award Winners

• 1^st Place Winner ($3,000): Amanda Jaret – 3L, St. John’s University Law School
• 2^nd Place Winner ($2,000):  Alyssa Zuckerman – 3L, St. John’s University Law School
• 3^rd Place Winner ($1,000): Elizabeth Sprotzer -- 2L, CUNY Law SchoolInterested in Participating?

If you are interested in becoming more engaged in the Section, consider joining one of our many committees.  You can do so here.  In the coming months, we will be providing more specific information on each of our Committees.

Upcoming Committee Meetings

The following Committees held meetings at The Hilton New York on Friday, January 25, 2013, in conjunction with our Annual Meeting Program:

Alternative Dispute Resolution
Communications
Continuing Legal Education
Disability Law
District Representatives
Employee Benefits and Compensation
Equal Employment Opportunity Law
International Employment and Immigration Law
Labor Arbitration
Legislation and Regulatory Developments
Membership
New Lawyers
Technology in the Workplace and Practice
Wage & Hour

Present:
Andre Castaybert,  Chris D’Angelo (by phone),  Sheryl Galler (by phone) , Dennis Lalli,  Mark Leeds, Mariam Manichaikul, Larry Moy, Don Sapir (by phone), and Steve Sledzik, 

Restrictive Covenant program at Annual Meeting in January 2013

Well received.  Capacity crowd.  Presenters were Sheryl, Andrez Carberry, and Ethan Brecher.

Will work on posting papers for this program to a link as part of the NYSBA website.   Sheryl is already in touch with Beth Gould about posting her paper.  Sheryl will also put Ethan and Beth in touch with each other for the same purpose.

Website description of our Committee

All of the Committees are responsible for providing such a description to add to the NYSBA website.

Don Sapir had put together an excellent draft, which was discussed.  Feeling is that we are essentially the miscellaneous committee, but perhaps we should embrace that notion.  Focus on non-union workplace is appropriate. 

• Can list statutes under our jurisdiction – such as Dodd-Frank, whistleblowing, unemployment.
• Mark mentioned other statutes that our Committee could possibly address, including proposed City Law (Bill 814-A) prohibiting discrimination against unemployed people.  The mayor has promised to veto this bill, and Christine Quinn has vowed to seek to override such veto.
• Mark:   Caregiver discrimination law.  State has under consideration a caregiver law.
• Also a bill before City Council re propriety of seeking waiver of Human Rights Law.
• Paid sick leave legislation.

Discussion regarding EEO Committee and its focus on discrimination statutes.

Dennis will revise the current draft, and add references to some of the statutes on which our Committee is expected to focus.

Project  Idea

Mark – Project idea.  Forms sought by employers asking if prospective employees have limitations, and some of these forms not appropriate. 

Group that combines LEL, Health and Disabilities Comm of NYSBA to work together to look at the various forms, consider the statutes and other laws and reasons those forms are out there, and work with the state medical society to come up with modified forms, or possibly provide better directions to physicians and patients so that information that is necessary and appropriate can be obtained.

E.g., employee with difficulty working where there is excessive dust will go to allergist/physician.  Employee says that if I didn’t have to work in certain areas, I could keep working, but employer wants something in writing from the physician.  What is an appropriate form for that physician’s note?

Could assist in simplifying the process, e.g., identifying when it is appropriate torequire an employee to present a note or form from a physician, and when it is not.

Guidance for lawyers and for physicians.

Dennis – knows doctor who is often asked to speak to FMLA accommodation issue. 

Larry – Perhaps before starting right in with as project, would be helpful to present a program.  That could stimulate interest and potential volunteers.  Might also focus us in on what an appropriate project would be, e.g., eventually moving towards preparing a manual with forms. 

Mark will send proposal to Dennis and me. 

March 1 deadline for proposals for Fall Conf in Canada.  

 Blogs:

Steve would look at doing a first quarter summary.

Dennis – good topic would be Labor Law Sec 193 and revision to what may be permitted as deductions from employee wages.  Sunsets in 2015 and can’t implement until state issues regulations.  Those regs will come out in 30 days or so.

Discrimination against the unemployed?  Perhaps that’s an EEO program?  Mariam may write on this topic as well.

Andre and Mariam will go onto roster to write next blogs after Steve and Larry.

 Dennis – invited by Entertainment Arts & Sports Law Committee to do presentation re state payment of wages law and union issues.  Will try to make that a co-sponsored program.

Don – They may want you to speak about intern issues too.