Video: Employer Liability Protection, Workers Compensation, and a National Fund

On June 10, 2020, Esta Bigler, ILR's Labor and Employment Law program director, hosted a discussion panel covering employer liability and several issues around funding and worker compensation. This webinar (available below), was made available as a continuing professional training (it offered CLE credits, which don't apply to recorded videos) for legal practitioners, but is also a valuable discussion for any interested in the legal issues affecting employment during (and following) the pandemic.

As the economy continues to open up, employers are seeking to be insulated from liability if an employee gets sick or dies from COVID-19. Do employers need additional protection from negligence lawsuits, given what is currently provided by workers' compensation and tort law? With the high number of deaths from the coronavirus, what is the best way to compensate families for the death of a worker? Should Congress establish a COVID-19 Federal Death Benefits Fund? How would this work with the NYS Workers' Compensation program? Join us for a discussion of what employers and workers need to move forward safely and fairly.

Our speakers for this webinar are:

John H. Beisner, Partner and Leader of Skadden's Mass Torts, Insurance and Consumer Litigation Group, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Joseph W. Canovas, Special Counsel to the New York State AFL-CIO

Robert Snashall, Former Chair of the NYS Workers' Compensation Board

W. Bradley Wendel, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law, Cornell Law School