Do’s & Don’t of Workplace Investigation: A legal Minefield
Speaker: Bob Oberstein
Speaker Designation: Arbitrator, Mediator/facilitator, Fact-finder/Investigator, Trainer and Educator
Speaker: Bob Oberstein
Speaker Designation: Arbitrator, Mediator/facilitator, Fact-finder/Investigator, Trainer and Educator
Are you prepared to conduct a proper investigation? Will that investigation be objective or show bias, even implicit bias? Will it respect the rights of both employees and employer, and do you know what those are? Or will it make an otherwise good case bad by committing some of the more common mistakes?
Learn the answers to all these questions and more so you can be prepared to avoid the common mistakes of others and make sure your next investigation is as professional as possible. It’s a minefield out there so it’s important to look before you leap!
Will your workplace investigation result in a successful lawsuit against your organization? It depends on if you strategically avoid some of the more common mistakes that can turn a good investigation bad! But when done right investigations can provide early identification of current or potential workplace issues and the opportunity to prevent them in the future if one avoids some of the more common Do’s & Don’ts. This webinar will address some of the mistakes to avoid which can increase the risk of exposing your investigation to becoming a significant and costly legal contest. It will also equip attendees with a strategic perspective to not only thoroughly investigate but also how to lower the risk of having a poor investigation backfire on you.
Bob Oberstein has over 52 years of Labor/Employee Relations experience on all sides of the labor-management table including as a neutral (arbitrator, mediator) in both the public and private sectors. He has served as a Commissioner, Maricopa County's Judicial Merit System Review Commission; Member, City of Phoenix Fire and Police Pension Boards; and Member/Chairman, City of Phoenix Civil Service Board. He is also the recipient of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) Director's Certificate of Recognition for Achievement in Promoting Positive Labor-Management Relations. Bob has served as Director, of the Labor Management Relations Program at Ottawa University, Phoenix (OU), Arizona where he taught conflict resolution, grievance processing, arbitration, and negotiation among other courses. He also served OU as Ombudsman for all student, faculty, and support disputes as well as the Disabled Student Liaison and received recognition in "Who's Who Among America's Teachers.
Bob currently mediates in the Family, Civil and Small Claims courts in the State of Washington and serves on the permanent panels/rosters for the FMCS Arbitration Roster (Regions 1, 2, 4, and 7); Oregon Employment Relations Board (OERB); Washington Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC); State of California Mediation and Conciliation Service (SCMCS) Public Employment Relations Panel; American Arbitration Association (AAA) Workplace Investigation Panel; Arizona Department of Education (ADE) Hearing Officer Panel; Eglin Air Force Base & American Federation of Government Employees Local No. 214 Arbitration Panel. In the past, Bob served as mediator and arbitrator on the employment, labor, commercial, and construction panels for the American Arbitration Association and for Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). He was also the initial trainer and advisor for the U.S. EEOC’s Phoenix Regional Office’s mediation program where additionally, he served as a mediator. Bob has also served as facilitator/mediator for the Interest-based bargaining process for several labor negotiations as well as being a Special Master (Arb-Med) in labor-management grievance resolution.
Bob holds a BA in English/Education from St. John's University, a Master of Science in Social Science and Graduate Certificate of Labor Studies from Long Island University, and a Master of Jurisprudence in Labor and Employment Law from Tulane University Law School.
