See Credit Details Below
Overview
Why You Should Attend
The California economy may soar or sputter during 2024, some segments may have hiring booms and others may suffer layoffs, but one thing is certain: there will be more employment litigation. Claims based on workplace disputes give rise to discrimination, harassment, and retaliation lawsuits, many animated and aggravated on all sides by strong emotions. The psychological factors behind the creation, litigation, and resolution of workplace disputes are impossible to ignore.
This program will address key employment law issues at the intersection of law and psychology in a clear and pragmatic way. Claims of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation, including those related to mental disabilities, accommodation, and religious belief are profoundly impacted by the range of emotions that motivate employees and employers. This program brings together a representative of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a psychiatrist on every panel, and prominent California practitioners from the employee rights and management bars to address current and novel employment law claims. They will identify key legal issues and ways in which psychological factors influence the employees, managers, and employers engaged in conflict. Speakers will transcend jargon, identify practical ways of working together, and describe effective strategies to avoid, pursue, and resolve litigation.
This program also considers the nature and prevalence of neurodiversity within the workforce generally, and among California attorneys, in particular. Bias against neurodivergent attorneys may impact recruitment, hiring, training, and accommodation. Our panel will help employment lawyers to recognize the value of neurodiversity and to uncover biases that arise from sources as unexpected as the algorithms used to help make hiring and promotion decisions. Additionally, this program will address the ethical considerations that arise when California employment lawyers and mental health professionals are aligned or adverse during litigation. Speakers will discuss discovery in litigation, including requests for information about psychiatric and family history, diagnoses, and psychological and medical treatment records. They will also address ethical implications of disclosure of patient confidences by treating therapists during litigation. Our legal and psychiatric experts will consider the ethical and professional responsibilities of attorneys and mental health professionals when they pursue or protect sensitive psychiatric information.
What You Will Learn
After completing this program, participants will be able to:
- Understand the EEOC’s, plaintiffs’ and defense bar’s perspective on current discrimination, harassment, and retaliation claims in California
- Consider the psychiatric perspective on the genesis and pursuit of workplace discrimination, harassment, and retaliation claims, including those based on mental disabilities
- Understand the nature of neurodiversity and its prevalence within the legal profession as well as the impact of bias against neurodivergent attorneys in California
- Recognize key ethical issues that arise when attorneys and mental health professionals are aligned or adverse in employment litigation, particularly during discovery
- Utilize the California Rules of Professional Conduct to guide work with treating and forensic mental health professionals
Who Should Attend
In-house employment and labor counsel, outside counsel for employees and employers, human resources executives, and forensic mental health professionals will benefit from this program.
Special Feature: Earn one hour of Ethics and one hour of Bias credit
Program Level: Overview
Prerequisites: None
Advanced Preparation: None