The Creighton University School of Law and Creighton Law Review present the annual Creighton Law Review Symposium. This year’s topic is “Once-in-a-Century”: Employment Law and the Legal Legacy of COVID-19. Learn about the most current guidance on religious and medical exemptions to masking and vaccinations from both the employees’ and the employers’ perspectives, as well as the impacts to benefits plans, tax issues, unemployment, workers’ compensation, and more. This program features the latest academic research and some of Omaha's best employment law practitioners.

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Designed For

Lawyers, community members, students

Provided By

• Creighton University School of Law
• Creighton University Office of Continuing Education

Schedule

1 p.m.
Introduction of Professor Carol Knoepfler
Kaitlyn Westhoff
Creighton University Law Student

1:05 p.m.
Welcome
Professor Carol Knoepfler
Law Review Faculty Advisor
Creighton University School of Law 

1:10 p.m.
Introduction of Keynote Speaker
Kaitlyn Westhoff
Creighton University Law Student

1:15 p.m.
Keynote: Disability Law’s Accommodation Lessons
Katherine Macfarlane, JD
Associate Professor of Law
Southern University Law Center

Professor Macfarlane will address how disability law provides a framework for managing the interests of those with differing medical needs in the workplace during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Disability law’s accommodations rules may help resolve tensions between employees’ personal autonomy and personal health in the context of masking and vaccination requirements. Her remarks will also address the amicus brief she co-authored in ET v. Paxton, a Fifth Circuit case addressing whether mask mandates can be enforced as reasonable accommodations pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act.

2:15 p.m.
Introduction of Session 1
Kaitlyn Westhoff
Creighton University Law Student

2:20 p.m.
Session 1: The Present and Future Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Labor and Employment Law in the United States

COVID-19 has been a watershed event for the world.  It has changed the way many people work, perhaps permanently.  Not surprisingly, existing labor and employment laws were not designed to anticipate the dramatic changes that were forced on workplaces almost overnight.  This panel will explore many of the impacts the pandemic has had on labor and employment laws in the United States and, perhaps more interestingly, what may changes may lie ahead.

Presenters:
R.J. (Randy) Stevenson (Moderator)
Morgan L. Kreiser
Sapphire Andersen
Scott P. Moore
Scott S. Moore                   

1. Health Protections
   1. Business closure and quarantine requirements – Scott S. Moore
   2. Employer vaccination policies – R.J. (Randy) Stevenson
   3. Federal Contractor Vaccination Mandate – Sapphire Andersen
   4. CMS Vaccination Mandate – Scott S. Moore
   5. OSHA Vaccination and Testing Mandate – R.J. (Randy) Stevenson
   6. State laws concerning vaccinations and face coverings – R.J. (Randy) Stevenson
   7. Labor/management relations issues – R.J. (Randy) Stevenson

2. Financial Protections
   1. Federal legislation – Scott S. Moore
   2. Employee benefits – Morgan L Kreiser
   3. Unemployment insurance benefits– Morgan L Kreiser
   4. Workers’ compensation – Scott S. Moore

3. Other Issues
   1. Remote work issues – R.J. (Randy) Stevenson
   2. Wage & Hour issues issues – R.J. (Randy) Stevenson
   3. Tax issues – Morgan L Kreiser

4. The Future (all panelists)

4 p.m.
Break

4:05 p.m.
Introduction of Session 2
Kaitlyn Westhoff
Creighton University Law Student

4:10 p.m.
Session 2: Accommodating Religious Exemptions to Vaccine and Masking Requirements
Presenter: Kate Dittrick

Employers have been placed on a roller coaster of possible vaccine mandates, mask mandates, and general OSHA requirements to keep their workplaces safe.  In following federal and local guidance as well as setting their own workplace policies, employers are also obligated to assess medical and religious accommodation requests from their employees.  This presentation will define the legal parameters around religious accommodations and the balance between religious accommodation laws and federal mandates

4:50 p.m.
Closing Statements
Robert Norton
Creighton University Law Student

5 p.m.
Adjournment

5 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Cocktail Reception in Harper Lobby

Education Credit

Creighton University School of Law is an accredited sponsor of continuing legal education in the states of Nebraska and Iowa. This program has been approved for 3.5 hours of continuing legal education in Nebraska and 4.0 hours of continuing legal education in Iowa.

Registration

No cost to attend.