Handling Basic Employment Discrimination Cases

Janet McEneaney is an arbitrator and mediator of labor, employment and commercial disputes. She teaches conflict resolution, negotiation and mediation skills to employees of corporations and non-profit organizations. She also teaches employment and business subjects to undergraduates in degree programs at New York University and the Cornell-ILR School. For ten years, Ms. McEneaney was a neutral Trial Examiner at the New York City of Collective Bargaining. Earlier, she was a human resource specialist and trainer at corporations in New York City. Ms. McEneaney is currently Editor of the Labor and Employment Section Newsletter for the New York State Bar Association. She is an active member of the Sports Law Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the International Labor and Employment Law Committee of the New York State Bar Association and the ADR Committee of the American Bar Association. Among other publications, she is a contributor to Discharge and Discipline in Arbitration and Public Sector Collective Bargaining, and an editor of the most recent edition of How Arbitration Works. She is a frequent speaker on employment and conflict resolution topics around the country. Ms. McEleaney earned a J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and an LL.M. in EU Law, with a concentration in EU employment law, from the University of Leicester in the U.K.

Admitted:

1980, New York.

1982, U.S. District Court, Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.

Memberships:

The Association of the Bar of the City of New York.

New York State (Member and Chair, Executive Committee, Labor and Employment Law Section) and American (Member, Labor and Employment Law Section) Bar Associations.

National Employment Lawyers Association (Member, New York Executive Board).

National Association of Securities Dealers (Chair, National Arbitration and Mediation Committee).

Education:

Fordham University, J.D., 1979. Articles Editor, Volume VII, Fordham Urban Law Journal, 1978-1979.

University of Pittsburgh, B.A., 1972.

Michael Welner, M.D. is responsible for a number of groundbreaking innovations in psychiatry. As founder of The Forensic Panel, he devised and implemented the first peer reviewed protocols in the United States for forensic consultation. Under Dr. Welner's leadership, The Forensic Panel has achieved his vision of presenting "the last word" to retaining attorneys, opposing counsel, and the courts. This has consistently helped to resolve cases without appearance at trial.

Dr. Welner's casework has spanned numerous areas of the criminal, civil, employment, and family law, often focusing on frontier issues. Through respect for the science, and dogged investigation, Dr. Welner has promoted and embodied diligence and objectivity as a staple of the forensic examination. He has lectured on numerous forensic and clinical issues as an invited speaker of, among others, the American Bar Association, American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology, International Bar Association, Pennsylvania State Senate Judiciary Committee, and various medical center Grand Rounds, at venues around the world.

In 1996, he introduced The Forensic Echo, and originated the format of a cutting-edge, practitioner-written forensic journal that combined commentary with case and science updates with investigative reporting. More recently, Dr. Welner has pioneered the effort toward establishing a forensic definition of evil. The Depravity Scale is a history-driven forensic assessment instrument that will standardize the definition of "heinous," "atrocious," and "cruel" in for purposes of fair and consistent application in criminal sentencing.

In his New York City based clinical practice, Dr. Welner specializes in patients who fail to respond to treatment. Dr. Welner's inquisitive and independent mindset, clinical foundation, and tenacious reliance upon evidence-based forensics guide the members of The Forensic Panel and their efforts in each case we examine.

Bertrand B. Pogrebin is a graduate of Rutgers University and the Harvard Law School. He has been practicing labor law with the firm which now bears his name since his admission to the bar in 1959. He has been Adjunct Professor of Law at Hofstra University Law School where he has taught courses on employment discrimination law and on individual rights in the workplace. He has been Adjunct Professor of Labor Law at New York University Law School. He was a visiting lecturer at Yale University Law School and is co-author with Professor Jack Getman, formerly of Yale and now at the University of Texas Law School, of "Labor Relations: The Basic Processes, Law and Practice," a labor law treatise for lawyers and law students that is now in its second edition. For many years he lectured on labor and employment law to practicing lawyers under the auspices of the Practicing Law Institute and has edited a labor law textbook published by that organization. In addition to representing many Fortune 500 private sector employers, Bert represented the New York City Board of Education for many years. He has counted the Village Voice, Inner City Broadcasting, Fashion Institute of Technology, and IBM among his clients. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America, in its Labor and Employment Law Section.

Katharine H. Parker is a Partner in the Labor & Employment Law Department of Proskauer Rose LLP and co-head of the Employment Law Counseling & Training Group and Government Relations & Contract Compliance Group. Ms. Parker has extensive experience litigating employment disputes of all types, including claims alleging race, age, disability, and sex discrimination, retaliation, sexual harassment, wrongful discharge, violations of wage and hour laws, and breach of contract. She has represented employers in single and multiple plaintiff, collective action, class action, and EEOC pattern and practice cases before federal and state courts and administrative agencies, and in various arbitration forums. She has litigated the full range of employee benefit-related matters, including claims for medical, long-term disability, and pension benefits, as well as breach of fiduciary duty, in connection with the administration of 401(k) and other benefit plans and investments of plan assets. In addition to litigation, Ms. Parker's clients regularly call on her to provide advice on compliance with various laws affecting the workplace, including the FMLA, ADEA, Title VII, ADA, FLSA, and state wage and hour laws. She has extensive experience in assisting companies in the planning and execution of reductions in force, mergers, and other organizational changes affecting employees. She assists clients in all aspects of planning and implementing Affirmative Action Plans and Diversity Programs, in conducting self-audits of employment practices and policies and compensation, and defending OFCCP audits. She also is frequently called upon to conduct internal investigations of discrimination and harassment issues. Ms. Parker speaks and writes on a variety of topics, including the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act, glass ceiling litigation, Title VII, ethics in employment law, ADA, FLSA, whistleblowing laws, internal investigations, and the FMLA. She also conducts management training with regard to EEO and anti-harassment laws, as well as hiring, evaluating, and terminating employees. In addition, she has taught classes on glass ceiling issues for Cornell University's extension program and as an adjunct professor of employment law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. Ms. Parker received her J.D. from Fordham University School of Law and B.A. from Duke University.

Michael Faillace worked for sixteen years as an in-house employment counsel, where he advised field in-house counsel and personnel departments on employment law-related matters, including employment discrimination, compensation, privacy, labor law and immigration, and developed human resources policies and training programs.