Taft attorneys Melissa Macchia and Conor Meeks will present at a webinar titled “Reopening the ‘New’ Workplace: Avoiding Employment and Safety Issues During the COVID-19 Crisis” on June 4. Presented by the Indiana Manufacturers Association and Purdue University Manufacturing Extension Partnership, the webinar will provide employers important information on best practices and guidelines for returning to work, how to avoid potential employment-based litigation claims, and OSHA requirements and best practices to avoid liability. Register here.

Macchia is a partner at Taft and a member of the firm’s COVID-19 Evolving Workplace Task Force. She concentrates her practice in employment law, with a particular emphasis on prevention and defense of employment-based litigation. She regularly advises clients on employment-related issues surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, including terminations and temporary layoffs, the WARN Act, the paid leave provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Relief Act, medical accommodations, and employee safety and return-to-work best practices and policies. Macchia also provides training and guidance to executive-level and supervisory employees with respect to the prevention and management of COVID-19-related issues in the workplace.

Meeks is an associate at Taft and represents employers in a broad range of labor and employment matters. He also represents employers in occupational safety and health matters, including providing advice on day-to-day compliance issues as well as defending enforcement actions by OSHA or equivalent state agencies. He has assisted clients in all phases of OSHA enforcement proceedings, including during workplace investigations as well as litigating alleged violations where OSHA has issued citations. Additionally, Conor has represented employers in defending OSHA investigations of retaliation complaints pursuant to the various federal whistleblower statutes enforced by OSHA. Meeks is a member of Taft’s COVID-19 Evolving Workplace Task Force and has closely monitored enforcement guidance from OSHA pertaining to workplace health and safety implications of the global viral pandemic.