ARIZONA EMPLOYMENT LAWYERS ASSOCIATION OUR 16th Annual PROGRAM AFTERNOON SESSIONS 12:00P - 1:00P Convention MORNING SESSIONS Lunch and Presentation of Thomas Rogers Award [MC Michelle Matheson] 9:00A - 9:05A February 26, 2021 Welcome from MC Michelle Matheson 1:00P - 2:00P 9:00am - to- 4:15pm 9:05A - 9:10A Breakout Sessions: Frank Fanning Scholarships [Nina Targovnik] A. Changes to Federal Employment Law [Stan 9:10A - 9:15A Lubin & Denise Blommel] Online via Zoom Treasurer's Report [Christopher Houk] B. The Role of Insurance in Employment Zoom Link: Litigation [Alden Thomas & Bobbie Fox] Zoom Link: 9:15A - 9:30A https://tinyurll.com/AZELA2021 NELA Presentation 2:00P - 2:15P 9:30A - 9:45A Afternoon Break Year in Review - Summary of Significant Cases Call In: Handled by AzELA Members 2:15P - 3:15P (253) 215-8782 The Reptile Theory: What is it and Why 9:45A - 10:45A Meeting IID: 930 0359 5737 •Review of Case Law: What Constitutes Should You Care? [David Nowakowski] "Severe or Pervasive?" [Christopher Houk] Passcode: 790063 •What Conduct Rises to the Level of an 3:15P - 4:15P Actionable Adverse Employment Action? EEOC Case Review Focused on LGBTQ and [Clara Acosta & Jacqueline Mendez Soto] COVID-19 Cases and Issues, Including Other 10:45A - 11:45A Laws Implicated by COVID-19 [Mary Jo Common Discovery Issues and Approaches [Roger O'Neill & Denise Blommel] MEARIZONA EMPLOYMENT McKee & Gina Carrillo] / \1 MllS ASSOCIATION 1 11:45A - 12:00P Morning Break Fin. ^ MATHESON & MATHESON, P.L.C. 15300 N. 90TH Street, Suite 550 Scottsdale, AZ 85260 Phone: 866-521-0720 Fax: 480-339-4540 Email: [email protected] Michelle Ray Matheson Ms. Matheson has significant employment and labor law experience in private practice and as a Director of Legal Affairs for America West Airlines and US Airways. Immediately following law school, Ms. Matheson served for two years as a law clerk for the Hon. Kathryn H. Vratil, U.S. District Court of the District of Kansas. In her capacity as Director of Legal Affairs for the airline, Ms. Matheson both defended and managed employment litigation across the United States. She has handled more than 200 grievance and arbitration hearings with the Airline Pilots Association, the Association of Flight Attendants, Communications Workers of America, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the Office and Professional Employees International Union. Ms. Matheson has also tried jury trials in both Arizona state and federal courts, and argued appeals before the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Ninth and D.C. Circuits. Prior to forming Matheson & Matheson, P.L.C., she was a shareholder with the Phoenix based law firm Gallagher & Kennedy, P.A. Ms. Matheson is also AV Peer Review Rated* by Martindale Hubbell. Bar Admissions • Missouri, 1995 • Kansas, 1996 • Arizona, 1999 • U.S. District Court Western District of Missouri, 1995 • U.S. District Court District of Kansas, 1996 • U.S. District Court District of Arizona, 1999 • U.S. Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit, 2000 • U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit, 2000 Education • University of Kansas School of Law, Lawrence, Kansas o J.D. - 1995 o Honors: Order of the Coif -- Top 10% o Law Review: Kansas Law Review, Editor • University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa o B.A. - 1992 CHRISTOPHER R. HOUK is the founder and owner of the Houk Law Firm, PLLC devoting his practice to employment law and addressing civil rights violations. Previously, he was a partner at Gillespie, Shields, Goldfarb, Taylor & Houk. He graduated Magna Cum Laude with Honors from the University of Arizona in 1996, with a law degree from Arizona State University in 2000. He clerked for a Superior Court Judge in New Jersey, worked as an Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division in the Office of the Arizona Attorney General, and was a Trial Attorney with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He’s a Fellow with the American Bar Foundation and graduated from the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Leadership Development Program, for which he’s on a Social Media project. He’s also on the ABA Outreach to Law Students Committee. He has given CLE presentations with the ABA, the State Bar of Arizona’s Labor and Employment Section, and to the National Employment Lawyers Association. Since 2016, he has been on the board of the Arizona Employment Lawyers Association, currently serving as its Treasurer. Jeffrey A. Mittman, Executive Director (415) 296-7629 x101 | [email protected] Jeffrey A. Mittman is the Executive Director of the National Employment Lawyers Association and The Employee Rights Advocacy Institute For Law & Policy. Prior to joining The Institute team, he served as the chief operating officer for The Equity Project, a charter school focused on educational equity for students from low-income families. Jeffrey has held several positions in the ACLU family, including serving as the executive director of the ACLU of Missouri, which was pivotal in the investigation of Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson and in obtaining state recognition of marriage for same-sex couples. As an attorney in private law practice for several years, he specialized in litigation, including criminal defense and employment discrimination matters. Jeffrey did advocacy organizing for Equality California, and has volunteered on electoral campaigns. CLARA S. ACOSTA ASSOCIATE ATTORNEY 349 N. FOURTH AVENUE PHOENIX, AZ 85003 [email protected] L&E LUBIN & ENOCH, PC REPRESENTING WORKING PEOPLE Clara S. Acosta graduated cum laude in 2015 from the University of Texas at El Paso, with a B.A. in English and a minor in Legal Reasoning. Clara later graduated in May of 2019 from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University. During law school, she completed internships for the Equal Employment and Opportunity Commission, Judge John Tuchi at the United States District Court for the District of Arizona, and the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project. During her last year of law school, Clara externed with Lubin & Enoch, learning extensively about labor and employment law. Here, she gained experience drafting complaints, discovery requests, drafting responsive pleadings, and interfacing with clients. Clara currently advocates for unions and plaintiffs in ongoing federal and state litigation, internal grievances, and administrative procedures. She has already presented oral arguments before a state court, school committees, and a college board of trustees. In 2020, Clara was also a nonvoting member of the Batson Working Group Arizona, working to reform procedural rules to bolster protections to protect potential jurors from being struck on the basis of race, sex, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability, age, or sexual orientation. She is also now a member of the Diversity and Racial Justice Committee of the Union Lawyers Alliance, working to establish partnerships that provide union lawyers an opportunity to engage in racial justice advocacy outside of their ordinary practice. She also has had the opportunity to be a moot court coach to Chicano Latino Law Students Association students at Arizona State University, prepping them for Mexico Moot and now the Hispanic National Bar Association Moot. EDUCATION • Sandra Day O’Connor College of law, Arizona State University (J.D., 2019) • University of Texas at El Paso, Bachelor of Arts (2015) • El Paso Community College, Associate of Arts (with honors, 2012) BAR ADMISSIONS: • Texas (2019) • Arizona (2020) Jacqueline Mendez Soto Barton Mendez Soto PLLC 401 W. Baseline Road, Suite 205 empe, Arizona 85283 480-550-5165 [email protected] bartonmendezsoto.com N MENDEZ SOTO Jacqueline’s diverse background allows her to practice in a variety of areas, including: Labor & Employment. Jacqueline’ s past experience includes serving as a field examiner for the National Labor Relations Board and an associate for the labor and employment group of Snell & Wilmer LLP. She also served as in-house counsel of labor affairs for U-Haul International, Inc. With Barton Mendez Soto PLLC, her practice focuses on representing employees in workplace disputes. Her combined experience in this area has given her the insight to effectively represent employees. Political Law. Jacqueline entered the field of political law as an associate for Torres Law Group, PLLC, under the direction of Jim Barton. Since then, she has litigated candidate petition challenges and second chaired ballot initiatives challenges. Family Law. One of Jacqueline’s passions is to assist families in time of need. She represents clients in all aspects of family law with the sensitivity required through personally difficult proceedings. She also represents clients in private adoption proceedings. As an adoptive parent herself, her personal experience allows her to help adoptive families navigate through adoption requirements. Judicial Law Clerk. Jacqueline had the honor of serving as judicial law clerk at the Arizona Court of Appeals for the Honorable Ann A. Scott Timmer, who now serves on the Arizona Supreme Court. Education ● J.D. Boston College Law School, 2003 ● B.S. Arizona State University, 1997 Bar Admissions ● Arizona ● U.S. District Court District of Arizona Roger A. McKee Phone: 602,864-3369 E-mail: [email protected] Education B.S. degree in Business Administration, Univ. of Cal., Los Angeles (UCLA), 1965; Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree, University of San Diego School of Law, 1969; Graduate, Northwestern University School of Law (Chicago) Police Legal Advisor Program (on Ford Foundation fellowship), 1970 Professional and Bar Activities and Offices Arizona Employment Lawyers Assn. (charter member): Speaker/CLE presenter at 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2020 AZELA Conventions Board member since 2012, and Membership CLE meetings chair Elected to 2-year term on State Bar of AZ Board of Governors (1993-1995) Chairman, State Bar of AZ Sole Practitioners Section (1991-1992) Member, Maricopa County Superior Court Civil Study Comm.