Laura Worsinger Quoted in Convene Magazine

Laura Worsinger, an attorney in Dykema’s Labor & Employment Practice Group resident in the Firm’s Los Angeles office, is extensively quoted in an article—“Zero Tolerance”—that appears in the December 2013 issue of Convene magazine. Published monthly by the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA), Convene is viewed by those in the meetings industry as the go-to resource for news, educational content and professional development.

The article points out the need for meeting organizers to have written harassment policies for their events that not only define what constitutes unacceptable behavior but help meeting attendees do the right thing if they see, or are the victims of, harassment.

In the article, Worsinger recommends that this policy “should state that the organizer is committed to providing an environment that is free of harassment and everyone who attends is expected to comply with this policy.” She adds that the policy “needs to define what unlawful harassment is. You need to set parameters, but don’t want to be too specific.”

Worsinger notes that having such a policy in place in advance of a meeting is an important component of risk management. “Your liability depends upon whether or not you have encouraged or prevented the harassment that took place at your event. The point is, you want to protect yourself, and to protect yourself you have to let people know you have a zero-tolerance policy.”

To read this article in its entirety, click here.