Event Details

Chapter Meeting July 2022: Kathy Perkins

Date:	July 12, 2022, 11:15am
Organizer:	Jayhawk SHRM Board
Location:	In Person: Maceli's - 1031 New Hampshire St, Lawrence, KS 66044 Virtual: Zoom
Price:	See Below
Event Type:	Meeting
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Improving Your Investigatory Skills: Getting the Information Employers Need to Make Good Decisions

Presenter: Kathy Perkins

Kathy Perkins LLC Workplace Law & Mediation

Employers are required to investigate complaints of harassment and discrimination – and take prompt appropriate corrective action. This interactive program will provide the elements of a good workplace investigations program and then focus on interviewing strategies and techniques to get witness cooperation. The added bonus is that these skills translate to all aspects of employer decision-making and problem solving, ranging from addressing bullying to discipline/termination to exploring reasonable accommodations. Attendees will participate in exercises designed to help them ask better questions involving situations typically encountered in the workplace and apply the information gained to determine a course of action.

After 25 years litigating employment disputes in corporate law firms, Kathy Perkins created her own company centered around resolving workplace disputes as early as possible. She saw the tremendous cost to employers, employees, and ex-employees of wrongful discharge, sexual harassment, discrimination, misclassification and other lawsuits. Costs that are not just money paid to attorneys, but also the toll taken by stress, time, invasion of privacy including email, mental health records, and so on. Kathy began analyzing what could have been done to avoid each lawsuit. She uses her experience and observations to provide proactive counseling to employer clients. She conducts manager training on employment laws and litigation avoidance. She independently investigates claims of harassment. She serves as a mediator, working with both parties to come to a mutually agreeable resolution. Kathy is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Kansas State University.