Labor Laws Update

Description

Join us for a very important 2021 Labor Laws Update with Joseph T. Ortiz, Partner at Best Best & Krieger LLP. Zoom link will be provided upon registration.

About Joseph:

An experienced trial lawyer and human resources attorney, Best Best & Krieger LLP Partner Joseph T. Ortiz has successfully tried employment matters before state and federal courts, administrative agencies, and arbitration tribunals on claims of all types.

Joseph’s experience includes the representation of private and municipal employers in employment matters of all kinds, such as:

• Wrongful termination
• Discrimination and harassment
• Fraud
• Negligent misrepresentation
• Wage-and-hour violation
• Leave law compliance
• Breach of implied employment contract
• Interference with prospective economic advantage
• Unfair competition
• Unfair labor practices
• Breach of contract
• ADA compliance
• OSHA citations
• Civil rights
• Various forms of unfair business practices

Human Resources Consultation
Joseph maintains a close working relationship with the human resource departments of the agencies and organizations he serves. By keeping in contact, he is able to seamlessly step in when called upon to address personnel issues. He also continually consults and provides employers with a variety of human resources services, including:

Drafting critical employment policies, employment and severance agreements, consultant agreements, independent contractor agreements, and employment policies of all types
Providing in-house training on sexual and other types of harassment avoidance
Providing consultation on all types of employment discrimination, wage and hour issues, affirmative action, and sensitivity and diversity concerns

Labor Negotiations
Before going to law school, Joseph spent some time on the front lines of one of the country’s most critical and costly union-led work stoppages. He was recently promoted to management at United Parcel Service when the drivers went on strike in 1997, halting operations for more than two weeks and costing UPS hundreds of millions of dollars. That experience gave Joseph the unique insider’s perspective of labor negotiations and union operations. Joseph defends private and public employers from grievances filed by unions, and advises and represents employers in union representation proceedings and elections.

Administrative Hearings
Joseph has also represented management before federal and state administrative agencies, including the National Labor Relations Board, Public Employment Relations Board, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, U.S. Department of Labor, Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, State Labor Commissioner, and, in limited instances, the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board.

He is well versed on the issues that correlate specifically to public employees, and has handled Skelly rights hearings on behalf of public employers when an employee elects to respond to allegations prior to imposition of any disciplinary action. Joseph also handles hearings for citations and appeals before the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, where the stakes are high for employers whose licenses can be compromised with a negative finding. Joseph serves on the California Fair Employment and Housing Council, which he was first appointed to by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2017.

Litigation
While employers hope that personnel issues don’t result in lawsuits, it inevitably happens. Because Joseph is usually involved in issues once they arise, he advises clients on the best ways to handle lawsuits. He has handled arbitrations, mediations, state court hearings and trials and appeals on behalf of employers. His experience working as mediator as a panelist for Riverside County Dispute Resolution Services gives him valuable insight when reviewing and analyzing a matter for a client.

Joseph taught employment law as an adjunct professor at the University of California, Riverside extension program. He also serves on the Executive Committee of the Labor & Employment Section of the California Lawyers Association and is the immediate past chair of the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce Board. Joseph is a first generation immigrant in a Guatemalan family that loves music. His sister is a professional musician, he plays the blues and even the oldest of his three young children is already in on the act with piano lessons. 

Education

• University of Minnesota Law School, J.D., cum laude
• University of California, Los Angeles, B.A., cum laude

Admissions

• California

Awards

• AV® peer review rating from Martindale-Hubbell®
• Superb Rated Attorney from AVVO.com

Memberships

• Hispanic Bar Association of the Inland Empire, Board
• California Department of Fair Employment & Housing Council
• Executive Committee for the Labor & Employment Law Section of the California Lawyers Association
• Riverside Downtown Business Council, member and past president
• Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce, past chairman of the Board
• American Heart Association, HeartWalk executive leadership team
• Community Police Review Commission, City of Riverside, commissioner
• Greater Riverside PIHRA, vice chair
• Greater Riverside EAC, board member
• Greater Riverside Dollars for Scholars, president
• Riverside Sunrise Rotary, president 2016-2017
• Riverside Legal Aid, board member
• Big Brothers Big Sisters - Inland Empire, board member