Our partner, Allison Ayer, will be speaking at the University Risk Management and Insurance Association’s (“URMIA”) 43rd Annual Conference, Guiding You Across the Ocean of Risk, being held in Providence, Rhode Island September 29 – October 3, 2012. Through breakout sessions on a variety of topics, the conference offers the opportunity for attendees to gather information about the risk management trends and insurance issues facing colleges and universities.
For her breakout session, Allison will present about employment discrimination claims, including claims of sex, religion, age and disability discrimination and sexual harassment brought pursuant to Title VII and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The topic is highly relevant, since in 2011, there were more private sector discrimination claims lodged in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) than ever before. Relief to workers in 2011 exceeded $455 million, a $50 million increase from 2010. This upward trend in the number and value of discrimination claims delivers a very real warning not only to colleges and universities, but to all employers, to take steps to prevent discriminatory conduct.
To that end, at the URMIA conference, Allison will present on providing practical tools to identify circumstances which create a higher risk to an employer facing a discrimination claim. She will also discuss legal strategies and precedent relevant to defending discrimination lawsuits, if and when an employer does get sued. Using practical examples, Allison will also discuss the promotion for diversity and the acceptance of the differences inherent in any modern workforce as a way to mitigate the risk, and potentially avoid altogether, employment discrimination claims.
Here’s the link to the conference website: https://www.urmia.org/annual/2012/
Here’s the link to URMIA: https://www.urmia.org/urmia.cfm