Eliminating bias in the legal profession can be a difficult proposition – especially if you don’t know that certain biases even exist. Attorney Spencer Skeen provides an in depth look into eliminating bias in the legal workplace – biases that you might have never known that you had.
The main topics addressed by Mr. Skeen include harassment & discrimination against disabled persons, ethnic & racial discrimination, eliminating bias based on religious beliefs and other less common actionable biases. Further topics discussed include elimination of bias rules, anti-bias laws, protected categories, the new ADA & the impact on law firms, peanut allergies, nicknames, teasing by co-workers, Title VII & reasonable accommodation, the definition of “religion” for Title VII purposes, appearance-based discrimination and discrimination against the unemployed. Case law discussed includes Land v. Baptist Med. Ctr., 164 F.3d 423, 424-25 (8th Cir. 1999), In Fraser v. Goodale, 342 F.3d 1032, (9th Cir. 2003), Gambini v. Total Renal Care (9th Cir. 2007), El-Hakem v. BJY Inc., 415 F.3d 1068 (9th Cir. July 21, 2005), Tillery v. Asti, Inc., 247. F. Supp. 2d 1051, 1062-63 (N.D. Ala. 2003) and Galdamez v. Potter, 415 F.3d 1015 (9th Cir. July 15, 2005).
Mr. Skeen devotes his practice exclusively to the representation of companies and management in a wide range of labor and employment disputes, including wage and hour, discrimination, retaliation, harassment, wrongful discharge, breach of contract, disability access, noncompete, and trade secret cases. His clients include businesses in the retail, toy, petroleum, food and beverage, healthcare, transportation, energy, golf, and financial services industries, as well as casinos, non-profit trade associations and governmental entities. Mr. Skeen defends a variety of class and collective action disputes as well as single plaintiff cases. He handles cases in state or federal court, as well as matters before administrative bodies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Department of Labor, the Department of Health Services, the United States Department of Agriculture, and FINRA.