Christopher O’Hara presents to legal administrators’ group on important employment law developments
Christopher R. O’Hara highlighted important employment law developments – including the recently enacted Massachusetts Pay Transparency Act (MPTA) and an update on various DEI programs in the wake of several recent federal Executive Orders – in remarks to the Boston Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators.
Mr. O’Hara addressed the importance of compliance with the MPTA for employers with over 25 employees as well as employers with over 100 employees in Massachusetts in light of potential assessment of penalties and other enforcement mechanisms that can be brought by the Commonwealth’s Attorney General’s office.
Regarding the recent Executive Orders, Mr. O’Hara noted that many DEI programs that do not have quotas or express discriminatory preferences not only comply with multi-state guidance, including from the Massachusetts Attorney General, but may also still comply with federal law. He urged firms to review their policies and procedures to ensure compliance under the current landscape of tension between state and federal law.
He also discussed recent debarment efforts and actions to restrict federal funding or work with the government taken against several of the nation’s largest law firms, corporations, and universities, as well as the counteractions brought by certain law firms against the current administration and various federal agencies challenging the legality of the Executive Orders. Mr. O’Hara noted the local support for the targeted law firms in pending litigation and additional support for the rule of law by several major bar associations, including the American Bar Association, the Boston Bar Association, and other national bar associations.
Mr. O’Hara, a Founding Partner of the firm, regularly advises employers on a wide range of matters, including hiring and termination decisions, wage and hour issues, noncompetition, non-solicitation, non-disclosure agreements and trade secrets, as well as other state and federal employment law matters. Mr. O’Hara also represents companies and individuals in his commercial business litigation practice on a wide range of legal issues.