Canna-business as Usual? A Guide to Approaching Marijuana and the Workplace

NATHANIEL M. GLASSER is a Member of the Firm in the Employment, Labor & Workforce Management practice, in the Washington, DC, office of Epstein Becker Green. His practice focuses on the representation of employers in employee relations and human resources compliance, as well as litigating claims of harassment, discrimination, whistleblowing, and wage-hour violations.

Mr. Glasser’s experience includes:

• Defending clients in complex employment litigation, including class and collective actions, involving claims of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, whistleblowing, wage-hour issues under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and state laws, trade secret violations, and breach of contract
• Advocating for employers before the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), the Office of Federal Contractor Compliance Programs (OFCCP), the District of Columbia Office of Human Rights, the New York State Division of Human Rights, the New York City Commission on Human Rights, and other administrative agencies
• Counseling employers on a wide array of employment and human resources compliance issues
• Leading, conducting, and advising on the internal investigation of employee complaints
• Providing anti-discrimination and anti-harassment training
• Advising employers with respect to workforce audits conducted by OFCCP or taxing authorities
• Mr. Glasser also advises clients on novel issues of employee relations, including:
• Drug testing and accommodation questions in the wake of recreational and medical marijuana (cannabis) laws recently passed in many states
• The implementation of artificial intelligence and predictive (or people) analytics in the workplace
• Transgender rights in the workplace
• The creation of effective training programs to address #MeToo and harassment, workplace violence prevention, and other key issues

STEVEN M. SWIRSKY is a Member of the Firm in the Employment, Labor & Workforce Management and Health Care & Life Sciences practices, in the New York office of Epstein Becker Green. He is a member of the firm's Board of Directors and Co-Chair of the firm's Labor Management Relations practice group. He has devoted his practice almost exclusively to aiding employers in developing strategies to remain union-free and, in organized operations, to securing and expanding management rights in collective bargaining and in proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board.

Mr. Swirsky regularly represents employers in a wide range of industries, including retail, hospitals and health care, manufacturing, banking and financial services, transportation and distribution, electronics, and media and publishing. He frequently advises and represents United States subsidiaries and affiliates of Asian, European, and other foreign-based companies. Mr. Swirsky is a Fellow of The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, a fellowship of the most accomplished members of the labor and employment law community in the United States, and a member of the Advisory Board of the Center for Labor and Employment Law at New York University School of Law.

Mr. Swirsky:

• Advises employers on a full range of labor and employment matters involving labor and employment issues in transactional matters
• Represents employers in union avoidance, organizing campaigns, and related proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board
• Represents employers in collective bargaining and in connection with strikes, picketing and arbitration proceedings
• Handles grievances and arbitrations concerning work rule disputes and discharges, for both unionized and non-unionized employers
• Represents employers in a full range of employment litigation and administrative proceedings, including Title VII, ADEA, ADA and other employment discrimination matters before state and federal courts and administrative tribunals such as the EEOC, and the New York State Division of Human Rights
• Prepares and revises employment manuals and personnel policy manuals
• Structures employment agreements, including those involving protection of trade secrets and proprietary technology, and litigation involving employment contracts, restrictive covenants, and the protection of confidential and proprietary information

From 1978 to 1983, Mr. Swirsky served as a Field Attorney with the National Labor Relations Board at Region 29 in Brooklyn, New York. He has represented employers in private practice since leaving the Board in 1983.

Mr. Swirsky is co-editor and a frequent contributor to the Management Memo blog and the Health Employment And Labor blog. He frequently writes and speaks on a wide range of labor and employment law matters and presently serves on the boards of several not-for-profit organizations.

Mr. Swirsky was named by Law360 as one of only six Employment MVPs for 2014. He was also selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America^© in the fields of Employment Law—Management and Labor Law—Management (2006 to 2019) and New York Metro Super Lawyers list in the areas of Employment and Labor and Employment Litigation: Defense (2007 to 2013). Mr. Swirsky is listed in PLC Which Lawyer? Yearbook and was "Recommended" in the Labor–Management Relations category by The Legal 500 United States (2012 to 2018). He has received an "AV Preeminent" Peer Review Rating by Martindale-Hubbell for more than 15 years, signifying the highest level of professional excellence. Mr. Swirsky is also a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.