Jeanine Conley Daves hosts a conversation between Tom Bender and Shin-I Lowe. They discuss the importance of mentorship, what a successful mentorship relationship looks like, and how male mentor influences are equally important to women.
  

(March 17, 2021) – Littler, the world’s largest employment and labor law practice representing management, is pleased to announce that Shareholder Theodora Lee (San Francisco) has been selected for the National Black Lawyers (NBL) “Top 100” for California. Additionally, associates Ashley Thomas (Houston) and Adama Wiltshire (Philadelphia) have been named to the NBL “Top 40 Under 40” for Texas and Pennsylvania, respectively.

(March 22, 2021) – Littler, the world’s largest employment and labor law practice representing management, is pleased to announce new leadership for its ‘Ohana and Reunión affinity groups. Additionally, the firm’s Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Council added six new members.

(March 23, 2021) – Littler, the world’s largest employment and labor law practice representing management, is pleased to announce that several of its attorneys have been selected for the 2021 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Fellows and Pathfinders programs and the National Employment Law Council (NELC) Academy.

Jennifer Youpa and Nina Markey discuss the importance of advancing gender equity in the workplace, how access and representation are critical to creating opportunities for women, and how women can help each other achieve their professional goals.
  

Margaret Parnell Hogan interviews Wendy Buckingham and Emily Haigh on how their experience as women in the U.S. military influenced their legal careers, and how their backgrounds shaped their outlook on gender equity in the workplace.
  

Report reviews the myriad forces transforming the workplace and formalizes Littler’s Global Workplace Transformation Initiative

An effective way to increase diversity hiring is to require diverse candidate slates for interviewing. Such slates include at least two diverse or women candidates in the pool of finalists. Employers should take heed, however, because there are limits to which a recruiter or a staffing agency can go in building such a slate. Alyesha Dotson discusses the avenues to intentionally recruit for diversity in a fair and smart manner to avoid violating antidiscrimination laws.
  

A properly structured and implemented Affinity Group (AKA Employee Resource Group) is a powerful tool in an employer’s Diversity Equity & Inclusion tool belt. But, unwary employers may risk violating the National Labor Relations Act if they bargain with an Affinity Group. In this month’s podcast, Alyesha Asghar Dotson discusses the do’s and don’ts of interacting with an active Affinity Group within your organization.
  

Watershed events in recent years like the resurgence of Black Lives Matter and #MeToo have galvanized organizations to step up their commitments in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion space to gauge the “cultural temperature.” The persisting pandemic has raised the stakes. Accordingly, many companies seeking a roadmap for these efforts increasingly want to begin their journey with a snapshot of who’s in the mix and how they are feeling. Enter the “Diversity Questionnaire.”

Littler Principal Cindy-Ann Thomas and her guest, Littler Shareholder Alyesha Dotson:

In support of AAPI Heritage Month, this podcast features Danielle Herring (Houston), Emilie Hammerstein (Pittsburgh) and Alan Sims (Downtown Los Angeles) as they explore their biracial identity and how that shapes the way they practice law.
  

In continued celebration of AAPI Heritage Month, Eddie Chyun (Cleveland), Lavanga Wijekoon (Chicago) and Aki Tanaka (Boston) share their stories of moving to the U.S., assimilating and adding to the American culture, and how their worldview, experiences, and background prepared them to practice law.
  

Barry Hartstein explains his view of the EEOC’s vaccination incentives.

HR Dive

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(June 3, 2021) – Littler, the world’s largest employment and labor law practice representing management, has selected Shareholder Jeremy Hawpe (Dallas) as co-chair of its Pride affinity group, joining Shareholder Lauren Schwartzreich (Denver), and succeeding Shareholder Darren Gibson (Austin) who is stepping down to focus on his growing and active practice.

In celebration of Pride Month, Whitney Williams (L.A. – Century City) and Michael Hui (San Francisco) discuss their personal experiences growing up gay in the Black and Asian American communities, what their similar upbringings have taught them about being an attorney, and how the Littler Pride affinity group is an important part of their lives at the firm.
  

Kimberly Doud of Littler’s Orlando office, Chelsea Lewis of Littler's Miami office and Kameron Miller of Littler's Charleston office present episode two of the Allied Behavior podcast series. Allied Behavior is focused on cultivating conscious conversations about inclusion, equity, diversity, and allyship in a corporate environment. In this episode, Kimberly, Chelsea and Kameron discuss Juneteenth, the factors shaping our perceptions about race, and how to foster meaningful interactions in the workplace.
  

Teresa Trigueros discusses workplace harassment and its protocols.

Confilegal

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(June 22, 2021) – Littler, the world’s largest employment and labor law practice representing management, has been named one of the “Best Law Firms for Women” for the 12th time by Seramount (formerly Working Mother Media). Littler is one of 50 firms recognized for utilizing best practices in the recruitment, retention, promotion and development of women lawyers.

Arizona recently expanded provisions of the Arizona Civil Rights Act (ACRA) to cover pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions. Additionally, following a national trend in response to perceived state and federal inaction, cities in Arizona on their own passed new ordinances that expands protected categories and coverage.

ACRA Expansion

Mishell Parreno Taylor and Raquel Zilberman Rotman write about how law firms can use the opportunities created by the pandemic to engage in real conversations about equity and offer steps firms can take to promote authenticity.

Bloomberg Law

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(July 12, 2021) – Littler, the world’s largest employment and labor law practice representing management, has received Gold Standard Certification from the Women in Law Empowerment Forum (WILEF) for the 11th consecutive year. WILEF grants Gold Standard status to firms that meet objective criteria concerning the number of women among equity partners, in firm leadership positions and in the ranks of their most highly compensated partners. Littler is one of only five firms that have been awarded Gold Standard Certification every year since WILEF began the award in 2011.

Philadelphia, PA/ March 20, 2009 -- Littler Mendelson (Littler), the nation's largest employment and labor law firm representing management, is pleased to announce the arrival of shareholders Warren E. Fusfeld and Melissa B. Kurtzman to the firm’s Philadelphia office, both formerly of WolfBlock LLP.

In Schachter v. Citigroup, Inc.,¹ the California Supreme Court rejected claims that an incentive plan that conditioned the earning of restricted stock based on continued service was unlawful where the employee voluntarily elected to participate in the plan, and the employee quit before the date on which the incentive was earned. The plan was lawful even though the incentive plan was funded from wages that the employee would have otherwise received in cash.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released proposed rules on March 2, 2011, in connection with provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act that prohibit "covered financial institutions" from providing incentive-based compensation that encourages inappropriate risks, by providing either excessive compensation or incentives that could lead to material financial loss to the institution.

Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code (the "Code") generally limits the deductibility of compensation paid by a publicly traded corporation to its top executive officers (the "covered employees") to $1 million annually (the "Million Dollar Cap"). However, this limit will not apply to certain amounts that qualify as "performance-based compensation." Compensation attributable to stock options, stock appreciation rights ("SARs") and restricted stock grants may qualify as performance-based compensation if they meet certain requirements.

The Virginia Supreme Court has spoken again on the calculation of damages in a complex employment contract case. In Online Resources Corp. v. Lawlor, No. 120208 (Va. Jan. 10, 2013), the court addressed the expert qualifications required for the valuation of equity following the termination of the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) ("executive") of a publicly-traded company, as well as the applicability of Delaware Corporations Law to related change in control (CIC) provisions. 

Background

On August 29, 2014, the Texas Supreme Court in Exxon Mobil Corp. v.

Monica Schiaffino contributed an overview of the primary sources of law that govern or affect executive compensation arrangements or employee benefits in Mexico.

Getting the Deal Through

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Updates: On November 12, 2020, in James Anthony Manastersky v.

Enacted on Friday, March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (H.R. 748, the “CARES Act” or the “Act”) is intended to stimulate the U.S. economy in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The CARES Act contains a number of provisions relating to employee benefits and executive compensation, which are summarized below.

Retirement Plan Provisions

As many employers are on the way to normalizing their business practices and re-engaging their employees, they should not overlook the many potential pitfalls in the administration of their retirement, health and welfare plans and their executive compensation arrangements. The risks of missteps are high, and include loss of tax-qualification of retirement plans, penalty taxes in connection with the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) employer mandate rules, other IRS penalties, employee lawsuits and Department of Labor enforcement actions.

(May 27, 2021) – Littler, the world’s largest employment and labor law practice representing management, has once again been recognized by Chambers and Partners in its Chambers USA 2021 guide.

In addition to the firm’s overall Band 2 ranking for labor and employment law, Chambers USA named 68 Littler attorneys as leaders in the field, as well as 47 regional offices, with the Alabama, Georgia, Minnesota, New York, Tennessee and Texas offices earning a Band 1 designation.

The Littler attorneys ranked in the labor and employment practice area include:

In February 2024, Poland’s government revealed that it is working on a comprehensive migration strategy for the years 2025-2030, advertised as a “responsible and safe” approach. The Ministry of Interior and Administration plans to spend the first half of 2024 conducting consultations to learn the preferences and expectations on migration and foreigners’ employment from various stakeholders, including the country’s biggest employers and their organizations, as well the trade unions.

In the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Autumn Statement, Jeremy Hunt promised that “the government will expand the business Visitor rules to allow businesspeople to engage in a wider range of permitted activities and paid engagements, to take effect from January 2024. The government will also explore further reforms to the business visitor rules during 2024.”

The first of these changes took effect from January 31, 2024. They were not a major reform of the business and other permitted activities that can be carried out on a visit visa, but there are some important changes.