Policies & Procedures for Preventing Harassment and Strategies for Controlling Discovery

Workplace harassment is an important and persistent challenge facing businesses today. Effective policies and training are essential to preventing and addressing harassment, and the EEOC in particular has provided valuable insights to help employers meet this challenge.

However, if a business is faced with a lawsuit or other legal claim, it is essential for it to understand best practices and strategies to meet the legal challenges involved. In this webinar, we will discuss the following: Policies and procedures your organization should have in place to prevent harassment Best practices during harassment investigations Strategies and best practices for preservation, management and cost controls for document collection, review and production.

Annmarie Simeone concentrates her practice on labor and employment counseling and litigation. She has a wide range of experience in state and federal courts, as well as in alternative dispute resolution venues, primarily defending management in claims made by employees under state and federal employment laws, including whistleblower claims, as well as claims alleging harassment and discrimination based on race, gender, religion, national origin, and disability.

Her work includes the defense of corporate defendants, as well as individual officers, directors, and employees, addressing issues unique to small businesses, as well as challenges faced by larger companies. In addition, Annmarie provides advice and counseling to human resource professionals and in-house counsel with respect to a wide range of employment issues, including employee leaves of absence, employee discipline, and layoff and termination issues, including the negotiation and design of severance agreements. She also drafts employee manuals and employment-related policies and procedures and has significant experience protecting businesses from liability by conducting training for supervisors and employees.

Annmarie recently received the Presidential Leadership Award from the New Jersey Women Lawyers Association.

Margaret Raymond-Flood devotes her practice to general litigation with an emphasis on complex commercial matters. Margaret has appeared in the federal and state courts of New Jersey, as well as the federal courts of other jurisdictions. She also has considerable experience in the defense of environmental, professional liability, and insurance claims.

Margaret has extensive litigation experience, including pretrial procedure, motion practice, and taking and defending depositions of corporate representatives, employees, and expert witnesses throughout the country. She has tried several complex matters on both the state and federal levels and she has also used state-of-the-art technology as part of her trial preparation and presentation. In addition, she has participated as a speaker in seminars dealing with a variety of insurance-related topics and trial presentation.

Margaret is Chair of the firm’s Response to Electronic Discovery and Information (“REDI”) Group, an interdisciplinary team that helps clients with the identification, preservation, collection, review, and production of massive amounts of electronically stored information required by federal and state court rules. Margaret authors and presents extensively on this topic as well.

Margaret also has unique experience handling cy pres matters, where she asks the Court with help interpreting the terms of a will or gift, when carrying out the terms literally would be impracticable or illegal. At the same time, she works to ensure that the general intent of the donor is observed as closely as possible.