Government administrators and their counsel are responsible for addressing complex personnel issues. When we face difficult human resource issues, we seldom have perfect knowledge about how to handle them. As Andrew Zolli and Ann Marie Healy observe in Resilience: Why Things Bounce Back (2012), “Even with perfect knowledge one can’t escape the nagging feeling we’re ballroom dancing in the middle of minefield.” This important topic is of interest to many of our members.
GPSLD provides a format for us to help each other as we journey through these minefields. That’s why we’re offering a webinar series on public sector employment issues. Our first program was Public Employees: Technology, Social Media, and the First Amendment in early October. This program discussed the challenges that technology has created for government agencies and how they’re handling them. The webinar received high marks, including the following attendee comments: I thought the examples were good - complex enough to generate questions but reminding people of the different rules (ethics or otherwise) that intersect; the presenter did a good job; and applicable to my job as an attorney in the federal government.
On December 9, 2021, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern, we’re presenting Understanding Garrity and Kalkines Warnings in Government Investigations. Due to self-incrimination issues that may arise in the context of internal investigations, the federal government is generally required to provide Garrity or Kalkines warnings prior to questioning an employee. Experienced practitioners will discuss the purpose of the warnings, Garrity v. New Jersey 385 U.S.493 (1967) and Kalkines v. United States 473 F.2d 1391 (Fed. Cir. 1973) the case law that established the warnings, and a government employee’s options in the face of investigatory questions.
On February 24, 2022, we’ll present Federal Vaccine Mandates: What Both Private and Public Sector Employers Need to Know. Many employers, both private and public, are subject to federal COVID-19 vaccination requirements. These federal vaccination mandates allow exceptions as required under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (for sincerely held religious beliefs, practices, or observances) or the Americans with Disabilities Act/the Rehabilitation Act (for disability). Referring to technical assistance issued by the EEOC and current caselaw, attendees of this program will be able to: identify the basic concept of reasonable accommodation, as applied under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII); understand the nature of a sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance under Title VII; identify the differences between undue hardship under Title VII and the ADA, and apply these standards in the context of COVID-19.
Due Process Rights of Public Employees Facing Discipline is scheduled for April 7, 2022, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern. Public employees facing disciplinary action have rights and remedies generally not available to private sector employees. This webinar will compare the rights and remedies of private sector employees with those typically experienced by public sector employees, the impact of the due process clause on public sector employers and employees, and recovery available to wrongfully disciplined public sector employees.
We’ll present an additional program on government whistleblowers in June 2022. Visit www.governmentlawyer.org for registration information about this and other GPSLD events. We hope you’ll join us for these webinars and let us know if you have any ideas for future CLE programs contact us at [email protected].
We are VERY fortunate to have the talent, experience and commitment of the presenters for this series of employment webinars. We express our appreciation to them. As Cicero rightly observed, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”