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Monday, May 23, 2022
When One Door Closes: New Law Ends Arbitration of Sexual Harassment Claims
Driven in large part by the #MeToo Movement, private arbitration agreements — particularly in the area of sexual harassment — have come under severe criticism over the past several years. On Feb. 10, after years of legislative negotiations and on a bipartisan basis, the U.S. Congress passed the “Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021.” On March 3, President Biden signed the Act into law. The Act amends the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) by adding a Chapter 4, and while it appears straightforward at first blush, it raises numerous questions in theory and practice. Mark C. Travis explains.
Knoxville Lawyer to Receive TBA’s Highest Legal Writing Honor
Knoxville lawyer R. Culver Schmid will be presented with the prestigious Justice Joseph W. Henry Award for Outstanding Legal Writing on June 17 during the Tennessee Bar Association’s (TBA) annual convention in Nashville. The award was established nearly 40 years ago and is given each year to the lawyer “who writes the most outstanding article that is published in the ... Tennessee Bar Journal for the preceding year." Culver is managing shareholder in Baker Donelson’s Knoxville office, and a member of its Real Estate/Finance Group. Judges said his article, “Restoring Rights of Individuals Convicted of a Felony Crime: A Manual,” did “an excellent job laying out the statistics and statutes regarding lost voting rights in Tennessee, and then guiding the reader clearly and succinctly through the process of restoring those rights." Read the full release.
The Law at Work: Vaccine Mandate Exemptions with a Tennessee Twist
Edward Phillips and Brandon Morrow in their previous column discussed the hot-off-the-press Public Chapter No. 6 (now codified at Tenn. Code Ann. § 14-1-101 et seq.) that prohibits most employers from taking an adverse action against employees who object to providing proof of their vaccine status. That law, like almost all others, has some exceptions. In this case, the prohibition on requiring proof of vaccine status does not apply to most health care providers regulated by CMS or certain federally regulated employers. But a new state law takes a different approach than its predecessor. Read the details in "The Law at Work."
Tennessee Mock Trial Champs Place 8th at Nationals
Tennessee's state mock trial champion won eighth place at the virtual 2022 National High School Mock Trial Competition May 5-7. Nashville's Montgomery Bell Academy, which took home the top prize at the Tennessee state competition in March, was edged out by the Arizona team. Student Devan Durrett was named a top 10 witness. The team was coached by attorneys Wade Cowan and Tracy Hancock, with Michael Stewart serving as faculty advisor. View complete results from the 2022 national competition and read more about Tennessee's mock trial program.
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