Legal Affairs

Jeff Feuquay, Associate Editor

I can only imagine, with a perverse sense of attorney glee, how frustrating it is to not only pay exorbitant amounts for legal advice, but then have to wait days or weeks for answers to your questions. My glee may be short-lived. The internet and the federal government are turning the tables, changing the rules.

The American Law Institute-American Bar Association, http://www.ali-aba.org/, is a fairly good place to start searching for current legal information on the Web, especially one of its sub-sites - Bacal and Wuamett's List of Some of the Most Useful Sites for Lawyers which is found at http://www.ali-aba.org/aliaba/appen1.htm. The list is somewhat dated, but exhaustive. By following its links, a researcher can answer many of his/her own questions. Check also to see if your state bar association or state Supreme Court has developed its own web site. For example, the Oklahoma Supreme Court Network provides access to all our statutes, attorney general opinions, agency rules and case law.

The federal government has also discovered the power of the Internet. Late last year, Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman introduced a new interactive program available on the Internet. The new system, "E-LAWS," is touted by Herman as particularly helpful to those smaller jurisdictions which often lack the resources to hire someone to oversee compliance with workplace laws. E-LAWS is composed of nine electronic "advisors" accessible via the Department of Labor's (DOL) web site. Each advisor is an interactive computer program that imitates the interaction an individual might have with a human expert. Based on the user's response to questions, the advisors provide specific information on the subject. It is unfortunately a little like the universally abhorred branching telephone answering systems, but the information available is massive. For example, the internet advisor may assist a person in determining whether a particular employer or employee is covered by a specific employment statute or regulation by asking the person a series of questions. The nine advisors cover the following areas of federal employment law:

Family and Medical Leave Act advisor

Affirmative action advisor -- provides guidance concerning affirmative action requirements for federal contractors and subcontractors

Two advisors related to laws governing veterans and military service -- one related to employee and employer rights and obligations under the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act and another related to preferences for veterans during federal hiring.

Four Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) advisors -- including one related to each of the following: cadmium standard, fire safety regulations, asbestos standard, and confined spaces standard

Mine Safety and Health Administration advisor -- provides guidance for required reporting of mine employment

The E-LAWS system may be accessed at: http:/www.dol.gov/elaws.

But, even with that initiative, the DOL is under fire. The Education and Workforce Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives began work on a new project designed to examine current workplace programs administered by the DOL, determine which ones are working and which ones are not, and decide how those that are not working can be fixed.

The House project -- called "The American Worker at a Crossroads" has a number of components, including:

hearings to solicit information from American workers

questionnaires asking workers to identify any programs, laws, or regulations enforced by federal agencies that are obvious hindrances to workplace productivity or especially valuable in preparing workers for the next century

an in-depth examination of the DOL's administration of programs and enforcement of laws

While the road between investigation and implementation is rocky and none too certain, personnelists would be wise to monitor the process. More information can be found at: http://www.house.gov/eeo.

The EEOC has also been active. In what may be of considerable importance to our field, late last year, the EEOC signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG), under which the two organizations agreed to work together to coordinate enforcement of federal and state equal employment opportunity laws. Under the agreement:

The EEOC will designate a district office liaison to each state attorney general office that chooses to participate in the program. And each participating state attorney general will designate a liaison responsible for ensuring cooperation and communication with other state attorneys general and the EEOC.

The EEOC will provide informational reports to the NAAG for circulation to each participating state attorney general, and state attorney general offices will submit reports to the NAAG for a quarterly report on important state employment discrimination developments.

Representatives of the EEOC and the NAAG will participate in regular conference calls and will meet annually to discuss national, regional, and state employment discrimination issues, share investigative techniques, and identify and initiate joint litigation and policy enforcement efforts.

The two groups may engage in joint enforcement initiatives; however, if they do, neither the EEOC nor any state attorney general will be obligated to participate in such an initiative.

The parties will establish an employment task force to report on the best ways to carry out joint initiatives.

You can find a copy of the memo at http://www.eeoc.gov/docs/naagmem.txt.

The EEOC also recently posted a fact sheet on its web site. Though the fact sheet is designed to provide basic information to small employers, it provides a good summary of laws enforced by the EEOC and EEOC procedures, including:

Employers covered by laws enforced by the EEOC, e.g., Title VII, ADEA, ADA and Equal Pay Act.

Recordkeeping and reporting requirements

Charge-processing procedures

Mediation programs available in many EEOC offices

Remedies available for violation of EEOC-enforced laws

Information about other available EEOC guidance

The site, http://www.eeoc.gov/smallbus.html, also has links to other helpful, and sometimes frightening, information.

While sharing this information could be potentially hazardous to my income, still it's nice to be around and represent well-informed folks.

See you in court.

Jeff may be reached at P.O. Box 706, Perry, OK 73077-0706; Phone: (580) 336-4908; Fax (580) 336-5366; Net: jeff@feuquay.com. If there is a topic that you would like to see addressed in this column please let him know.