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The Daily News reported yesterday about an effort by model Sara Ziff to improve working conditions in the modeling Indusrty. According to Ziff, who is also one of the creators of the contraversial documentary "Picture Me", the modeling industry is completely unregulated and at times exploitative of talent. Models don't have health insurance or workman's comp; there aren't even meal breaks during work hours. Efforts to formally organize models into a union have previously failed, but Ziff hopes that she will be able to create legal protections for models in the fashion industry.

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for more on labor law, watch Critical Issues in Contemporary Employment Law

Attorney Bart Basi offers the Lawline Tip in The Legal Beat Clip of the Day. Go to Lawline.com now to view the full course.

Accountant Vicki Walker recently exposed the bizarre story behind her lawsuit against the New Zealand company she was working for. The company, ProCare Health, fired Walker after accusing her of causing disharmony in the workplace. But the reason for her dismissal is most unusual; apparently, Walker's so-called confrontational email style, which consisted of big, bold, red and capital lettering, was the root of the dismissal. While using this vexing text style, Walker would send co-workers massive emails with subjects like “How to Fill out Forms” and “Please Complete the Following Checklist.”

Annoying? Absolutely. Cause for dismissal? Not at all. Walker was victorious in her lawsuit. She walked away with compensation for $6,000 in lost wages, pertaining to the time it took for her to find a new position, as well as $11,500 for any harm caused by her dismissal. Indeed, Walker claimed that the abrupt layoff left her forced to re-mortgage her home. She claimed, "They nearly ruined my life."

Being that this is an election year, of course immigration is going to be a hot topic of discussion.  The different candidates all have something to say on the subject of immigration, and it is hard to tell what is going to happen when the next President takes office.  According to some reports, there are as many as 20 million immigrants living in the US illegally right now.  That will have to be addressed in some way, whether it is allowing those who are already here to stay and closing down our borders, or enforcing  stricter deportation policies.

Recently, we asked Phil Kleiner, our resident expert on immigration laws, to talk about the issue.  He discussed the many possible scenarios that might play out in the next year or so with regards to this problem.  Below, you can find a short video clip from the discussion.  Phil Kleiner is a Lawline.com faculty member, specializing in immigration.  His most recent CLE program, Permanent Residency and Employment Based Immigration, can be found in our course catalog.

The area of Employment Law is as important an area of the law as any, and it is one that continues to grow and gain importance every day.   One of the more prominent law firms around focusing solely on Employment Law is Schwartz & Perry LLP.  Recently, we were lucky enough to be joined by three attorneys from Schwartz & Perry LLP, Murray Schwartz, Brian Heller, and Matthew Schatz.

Murray Schwartz, who has received a lot of positive feedback for his CLE programs on Lawline.com in the past, is back again with an interesting new style.  This program was filmed as a roundtable discussion covering everything from how to handle a client to trying a case.  It is a must see for anyone practicing in employment law, and a very interesting course for any attorney.

Below, please find a brief clip, in which Murray Schwartz explains a little of the planning that went into this program.  He introduces his colleagues and discusses the main purpose behind presenting this material.  And keep a look out for their course, which will be hosted exclusively on Lawline.com in the near future.

Fernando M. Pinguelo, a partner at Norris McLaughlin & Marcus, has developed a lecture series called Legal TIPs: Topics in Perspective.  The series was created to give busy people a quick and easy to understand explanation of legal issues that may affect them on a day to day basis.  Each topic is covered through a group of 9 questions that get right at the heart of the matter, including what each issue means to various people.

We spoke with Fernando and asked him to share with us his most recent presentation, entitled 9 Things Your Business Needs to Know about Jury Waiver Clauses in Employment Contracts.  Below you can find a podcast recording of Fernando’s presentation.

Jury Waiver Clauses, as they relate to employment contracts, are terms in a contract that waive the parties’ right to have their grievances decided by a jury.  “They can help insulate employers from irrationally inflated damage rewards, minimize an employee’s emotional appeal, reduce the time and cost of trials, help avoid frivolous claims, and increase employers’ leverage when it comes to negotiating with plaintiffs’ attorneys.”

It is important for employers to know whether or not to use jury waiver clauses within their business and what some of the major issues surrounding jury waiver clauses are.  Fernando outlines the basic things every employer should know as well as the benefits and actions you can take to put them in place.

Click Play below to listen to Lawline.com's podcast presentation with Fernando M. Pinguelo.

Many of us have sat in an orientation meeting at our new job and listened to the workplace harassment warnings given by someone from the HR department. It seems like anytime you pick up the paper you read about a new harassment case of some kind. Well, not too long ago, employment law and sexual harassment did not even exist. In fact, it wasn’t until 1990 that an amendment to the civil rights laws brought the idea of workplace discrimination into sight.

Murray Schwartz has been practicing law since 1949. You may have heard his name mentioned before. After all, he is managing partner of Schwartz & Perry, LLP, a well-known employment law firm focusing on workplace harassment on the basis of sex, age, race, and disability. This is an area of law that he has become very passionate about and to which he has devoted his entire practice. A certified expert in the field, Murray has spent years educating his peers on the many aspects of employment law through lectures and counseling. He has become a well respected member of the law community and deserves everything he has achieved.

Murray Schwartz and his daughter, Davida Perry, won the first sexual harassment case in the US in 1990 called Thoreson v. Guccione and Penthouse Magazine. The ruling in this case set an extremely important precedent in employment law, that a defendant could establish a claim of sexual harassment against his or her employer based solely on the testimony of the victim. Many of today’s sexual harassment laws can be traced back to the ruling that Murray Schwartz won years ago.

Another important case that Schwartz & Perry has tried is Bracker v. Cohen. In 1991, the City of New York enacted a Human Rights Law authorizing a private cause of judicial action for victims of employment discrimination. The New York City law was challenged and Mr. Schwartz successfully argued at both the trial court and the appellate level on behalf of the law’s constitutionality. His position was upheld in both courts and as a result, New York City has the benefits of an effective New York City Human Rights Law.

Additionally, a jury in the New York County Supreme Court, awarded a Schwartz & Perry client in the case of McIntyre v. Manhattan Ford, an award of $6.6 million dollars in a sexual harassment and retaliation suit. This was the highest award that had been granted to a single plaintiff in a sexual harassment claim.  Although the award was reduced to $3.1 million dollars on appeal, on the ground that the court considered the jury verdict too high, the reduced award stands as one of the highest jury awards for a single plaintiff in a sexual harassment case in the United States.

These three cases Thoreson, Bracker and McIntyre, have frequently been referred to as the "trilogy" of cases, each of which is highly significant in the development of the field of employment law. Schwartz & Perry understandably considers themselves privileged to have been the attorneys for the plaintiff in each of those three landmark cases.

Murray Schwartz is also a faculty member with Lawline.com. He has presented lectures that can be viewed for CLE credits on Age Discrimination and Trial Strategies for Employment Law. In the following video, Mr. Schwartz shares with us first hand that employment law and workplace harassment cases have unique challenges. There are a number of reasons for this of course, most importantly because is that it happens behind closed doors. There is usually a lack of evidence, a lack of witnesses, and a cover-up that naturally took place. However, Mr. Schwartz has continued to break down barriers and overcome hurdles to make these issues heard. For all of that we honor him, and praise his continued devotion to the field.

Featured Interview with attorneys at Schwartz & Perry