Lyons to Deliver Seminar on Reasonable Accommodation

and the Obama Administration

Roseland, NJ, December 5, 2008 – M. Trevor Lyons, an attorney with Connell Foley’s Labor and Employment Law practice group, will deliver a seminar on Reasonable Accommodation and the Obama Administration at the firm’s Roseland, New Jersey Office on January 8, 2009.  The event, which is being presented by the Business Development Academy, will begin with a breakfast at 8:00 AM followed by the seminar at 8:30 AM.  The session will conclude with a half-hour question and answer session beginning at 9:15 AM.

The nation’s growing diversity of religious practices is sparking tension between employers and their employees.  Claims of religious discrimination filed with federal, state and local agencies have doubled over the past 15 years and surged 15% during 2007.

Additionally, Congress recently amended the Americans with Disabilities Act to make it easier for employees and applicants to qualify for protection under the Act.  As a result, covered employers will be required to offer reasonable accommodation far more often than in years past.  These amendments take effect January 1, 2009.  Likewise, in New Jersey, employers will be facing questions from employees as payroll deductions under the New Jersey Paid Family Leave Insurance Benefit Law go into effect January 1, 2009, and its leave provisions become operable July 1, 2009.

Similarly, the historic election of President-elect Barack Obama, coupled with the Democratic Party increasing its majority in both the Senate and House of Representatives, greatly increases the chances of passage of several employee-friendly laws.  The most notable and drastic of these new proposed laws is the so-called Employee Free Choice Act (“EFCA”), which would reverse more than 70 years of American labor law precedent.

In this seminar, Mr. Lyons will discuss: how companies can deal with the increase in claims for accommodation for both disability and religious practice, and the new paid leave legislation going in to effect in 2009; whether a Democratic-controlled Congress will enact the Employee Free Choice Act and what the likely implications would be; and  preview some of other legislation, such as the expansion of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, and the Independent Contractor Proper Classification Act, that employers might expect to see in 2009.

Mr. Lyons has focused his practice in the area of labor and employment law since his graduation from law school.  He provides diligent representation on behalf of management for a broad array of labor and employment related claims, including allegations of discrimination, employment contract disputes, restrictive covenants, wrongful terminations and whistleblower complaints.  He is a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law and Alternative Dispute Resolution sections.  For more information, please contact Mr. Lyons at (973) 535-0500 or mlyons@connellfoley.com.