Psychological Issues in the Workplace 2021

The pandemic has created new types of legal claims by employees, additional obligations for employers, and a novel set of challenges for employers and employees alike. While the pandemic suddenly affected each of us and dramatically altered the workplace, there is one factor that remains critical to the creation and resolution of employment disputes. Psychological issues, always important, are impossible to ignore as we adjust to our new “normal.”

This program will address in a clear and pragmatic way key legal issues at the intersection of employment law and psychology, A wide array of claims, from discrimination and retaliation to workplace safety and disability accommodation, are profoundly impacted by the range of emotions that motivate employees and employers alike. These emotions have only been heightened during this unprecedented time. This program brings together in-house counsel, outside counsel, and mental health professionals to address the creation, litigation and resolution of employment law claims unique to the pandemic and its aftermath, and the manner in which psychological issues influence the employees, managers and employers involved in such conflicts. Prominent practitioners from the employee rights and management bars, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, psychiatrists and psychologists, will transcend jargon, identify practical ways of working together, and describe effective strategies to avoid, pursue and resolve litigation.

Additionally, this program will address a set of ethical considerations that arose well before the pandemic and remain no less important now. Professional responsibilities and ethical issues that arise from bullying on the job will be the focus of our legal and mental health experts, who will consider the professional responsibilities for attorneys and mental health professionals when bullying threatens or involves violence.

What You Will Learn:

• Update from the EEOC, plaintiffs’ and defense bars on the pursuit and defense of employment claims that are arising during the pandemic
• Americans with Disabilities Act issues including accommodation requests and responses, disputes involving the Family Medical Leave Act, including accommodations issues related to the public health crisis
• The emotional impact of medical crisis, trauma and chronic anxiety, and their impact in the workplace
• Ethical and professional responsibility issues that arise when employees, employers and mental health professionals encounter bullying behavior in the workplace

Featured JAMS Panelist: