Rollercoaster of Emotions: Untangling mental health discrimination for anxiety, depression, and substance abuse

Lauren Rayner Davis | Rottenberg Lipman Rich, P.C.

Lauren Rayner Davis, Esq. is an attorney licensed in New York, New Jersey, and the District of Columbia. Lauren is a Senior Associate at Rottenberg Lipman Rich, P.C. and was named as a New Jersey Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2023. Her practice, which is divided between litigation and daily client counseling, primarily focuses on labor and employment, intellectual property, and entertainment law. Prior to joining RLR, Lauren worked at a national construction law firm in its labor and employment group where she litigated for employers in matters involving trade secret misappropriation, restrictive covenants, unfair labor practice charges, single-plaintiff discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and whistleblower complaints and single-plaintiff and class/collective wage and hour disputes as well as employment practices liability insurance and directors & officers claims.

Before she entered private practice, Lauren served as a judicial law clerk in the Civil and Appellate Divisions of the New Jersey Superior Court and as a judicial intern in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Lauren earned her J.D. from Brooklyn Law School, where she served on the executive editorial board of the Brooklyn Law Review, and her B.A., cum laude, from the University of Southern California.

Speaker Contact Information: Lauren Rayner Davis, Esq. | Rottenberg Lipman Rich, P.C. The Helmsley Building 230 Park Avenue, 18th Floor New York, NY 10169 Office (212) 661-3080 / direct (646) 273-5422 | [email protected]

Shannon D. Azzaro | Jackson Lewis, P.C.

Shannon D. Azzaro, Esq. is an associate in the New York City, New York, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. Her practice focuses on representing employers in workplace law matters, including preventive advice and counseling. Shannon has experience in handling wage and hour class and collective actions, restrictive covenant litigation, and employment discrimination claims. She represents management in state and federal courts, and before administrative agencies including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the New York State Division of Human Rights, and the New York City Commission on Human Rights.

She regularly counsels’ employers on all aspects of employment law to proactively manage risk and keep employers in compliance with increasing changes to the law. Prior to joining Jackson Lewis, Shannon was an associate with the Labor and Employment Group of a national law firm. During law school, Shannon participated in Fordham Law’s Consumer Litigation Clinic and was the Cooper-Walsh editor of the Fordham Urban Law Journal.

Speaker Contact Information: Shannon D. Azzaro, Esq. | Jackson Lewis, P.C.
666 3rd Avenue, 28th Floor New York, New York 10017
Office (212) 545-4000 / direct (212) 545-4011 | [email protected]

I. Discrimination Laws | 12:00pm – 12:30pm

• Federal and state discrimination laws
• Understanding protected classes with a focus on anxiety, depression, and substantive abuse
• Types of discrimination: disparate treatment vs. disparate impact

II. Recognizing Discrimination in Practice | 12:30pm – 1:00pm

• Identifying discriminatory practices in hiring, promotion, and termination
• Case studies and examples and exercises for recognizing implicit bias

Break | 1:00pm – 1:10pm

III. Handling Discrimination Complaints | 1:10pm – 1:40pm

• Best practices for investigating discrimination complaints
• Legal obligations and potential liabilities for employers
• Navigating the EEOC and state agencies

IV. Preventing Discrimination in the Workplace | 1:40pm – 2:10pm

• Implementing effective anti-discrimination policies and training programs
• Promoting diversity and inclusion
• Strategies for creating a discrimination-free workplace culture