Trainings & Seminars
Gilbert Training Group offers Open-Enrollment Sessions at our facility in the Washington DC area as well as On-Site trainings & Webinars, in coordination with cyberFEDS®, customized to your agency’s specific needs.
Why use us for training?
- Experienced Faculty: Our instructors are practicing attorneys, former judges, and HR, EEO and LR professionals who can deliver real-world instruction grounded in both the latest case law as well as knowledge of the current climates of the EEOC, MSPB, FLRA and other federal agencies. All our instructors have a reputation for training excellence and have received high ratings in previous training venues, including FDR Training events.
- Interactive Sessions: We’ve developed engaging in-person interactive sessions including proven components of an effective and lasting training experience: multi-media, real-life case law examples, factual storyboards, live Q&As and mock trials/arbitrations.
- Powerhouse Provider: We offer hundreds of years of combined expertise serving the federal HR & EEO workspace with print and online publications, tools, resources and training including cyberFEDS®, Manager Advantage, Webinars and FDR Training.
We want to share with you our training schedule for Spring 2023! These trainings are a great opportunity to experience the incredible faculty and instruction we provide in partnership with cyberFEDS.
All trainings (except the EEOC Hearing Bootcamp) will be held virtually as an interactive livestream via the Zoom for Government platform.
We hope to welcome you to one of our trainings soon.
Essentials of Issuing & Defending Conduct & Performance Actions for Supervisors & ER Professionals
March 1-2, 2023 (9:00am – 4:30pm EST)
Presented by Kevin Owen, Gary Gilbert, Renn Fowler, Alexis Tsotakos, Julie Gold, and Sam Vitaro
Registration: Fill out registration form and send via email to [email protected]
ER professionals will learn how to provide effective advice to managers without stepping into the role of a decision-maker and will guide managers through the process of issuing discipline. The instructors will cover how to prepare a case to withstand scrutiny before the MSPB, how to distinguish between concerns of performance versus conduct, preparing performance improvement plans, charges and penalties, progressive discipline, and how to identify similarly situated employees. The course will also cover how to provide ER advice to supervisors on holding employees accountable where the employee has filed an EEO complaint or has a disability.
Practice Before The EEOC
Mar 27-30, 2023 (9:00am – 4:30pm EST)
Presented by Gary Gilbert, Deryn Sumner, Alexis Tsotakos, Nicole Diaz, Julie Gold, & a panel of current and former EEOC judges
Location: Virtual (Zoom for Government)
Registration: Fill out registration form and send via email to [email protected]
If you only attend one program this year, this should be it! This 4-day course will provide attendees, both new and experienced, with invaluable insights from our experienced instructors as they demonstrate best practices to increase skill and effectiveness when practicing before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Attendees will learn how to assess potential litigation risk of a case for their agency, how to conduct effective discovery, how to evaluate a claim for damages and present arguments that any award of damages should be limited, how to draft concise and effective written submissions to the EEOC, and strategies for presenting your case at hearing. Throughout the sessions, attendees will learn about common pitfalls and how to avoid them. This training will also include a module about the latest developments in the EEOC.
Nuts & Bults of Reasonable Accommodation
April 13, 2023 (9:30am – 1pm EST)
Presented by Alexis Tsotakos and Julie Gold
Location: Virtual (Zoom for Government)
Registration: Fill out registration form and send via email to [email protected]
This course teaches attendees about Disability Law and the Reasonable Accommodation process, including who is entitled to receive reasonable accommodation for a disability, different types of claims that can be raised, and how agencies should respond to requests for reasonable accommodations. The course also outlines ways to effectively accommodate mental disabilities in the workplace, and how to address performance and conduct issues where the employee has requested or has a reasonable accommodation. We will also focus on the most often-requested accommodations, leave and telework, as well as what obligations agencies have and best practices for responding to those requests. Attendees will learn about the circumstances when medical documentation is needed to respond to reasonable accommodation requests, fitness-for-duty examinations and the direct threat assessment, and the importance of maintaining the confidentiality of employees’ medical information. This course is ideal for Agency civil rights staff, EEO and Human Resources staff, reasonable accommodation coordinators, Agency legal representatives or other individuals responsible for defending the Agency, and even Union stewards who may advise and represent bargaining unit employees.
Investigating Claims of Harassment
April 19, 2023 (9:00am – 4:30pm EST)
Presented by Shannon Leary & AJ Hill
Location: Virtual (Zoom for Government)
Registration: Fill out registration form and send via email to [email protected]
This course will discuss how to prevent and appropriately handle claims of harassment in the post-#metoo era. Agency attendees will learn the best way to handle and investigate harassment claims, including a discussion of how best to implement the recommendations made by the EEOC’s Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace. We will also cover what additional steps an agency should take when harassment does occur in the workplace to promptly address and prevent its reoccurrence. Managers, Agency personnel responsible for conducting harassment inquiries, and those involved in EEO investigations should not miss this course!
Practice Before The MSPB
April 24-27, 2023 (9:00am – 4:30pm EST)
Presented by Peter Broida, Kevin Owen, Renn Fowler, & EZ Smith
Location: Virtual (Zoom for Government).
Registration: Fill out registration form and send via email to [email protected]
If you practice before the MSPB, you won’t want to miss this four-day intensive seminar that explores all aspects of litigating appeals before the Board, from evaluating the case, through discovery and hearing, to potential petitions for review and appeals to the Federal Circuit. Attendees will hear invaluable insight from our experienced instructors as they outline best practices and share common pitfalls and how to avoid them. This training will touch upon all the hottest issues and areas of Board practice through a series of modules that address the Board’s jurisdiction, evaluating the case, conducting effective discovery, affirmative defenses and claims of harmful procedural error, and presenting the evidence at hearing. Attendees will also learn about the latest developments at the Board.
EEOC Hearing Boot Camp
May 1-3, 2023 (9:00am – 4:30pm EST)
Presented by Gary Gilbert, Deryn Sumner, Cori Cohen, Shannon Leary, & Ed Passman
Location: In-person only – TBD Washington DC area
Registration: Fill out registration form and send via email to [email protected]
This interactive program provides Complainant- and Agency-side representatives in the federal sector with the essential tools they need to practice before the EEOC. This program will include an overview of the legal framework of the types of cases within the EEOC’s jurisdiction, as well as help build practical skills for practitioners through interactive demonstrations and an opportunity to participate in a mock deposition and/or hearing. Attendees will also learning substantive material along the way, including of the most recent developments in EEOC case law, through discussions of hypotheticals based on real cases. This is an intensive program that will require some advanced preparation from attendees.
EEOC Case Law Update
May 8, 2023 (9:30am – 1pm EST)
Presented by Deryn Sumner, Gary Gilbert, and Don Names
Location: Virtual (Zoom for Government).
Registration: Fill out registration form and send via email to [email protected]
The EEOC’s Office of Federal Operations issues thousands of decisions each year. This session will cover the most important decisions you need to know to engage effectively in written and oral advocacy before the EEOC. The course will review these key decisions and key takeaways you can incorporate into your practice on cases covering disability and reasonable accommodations, harassment, sanctions, other findings of discrimination, and remedies, including back pay and compensatory damages.
MSPB Case Law Update
May 9, 2023 (9:30am – 1pm EST)
Presented by Renn Fowler and Kevin Owen. Also invited to present: Peter Broida
Location: Virtual (Zoom for Government)
Registration: Fill out registration form and send via email to [email protected]
This comprehensive legal update will cover the latest decisions from the MSPB and the Federal Circuit. We will review the current legal landscape and the most recent Board and Court guidance on hot topics such as the impact of COVID-19, harassment claims, due process, and whistleblowing claims.
Essentials of Federal Sector Labor Law
May 15-17, 2023 (9:00am – 4:30pm EST)
Presented by Saul Schwartz, James Richard, also invited to present Peter Broida, Frank Ferris, Marilyn Blandford
Location: Virtual (Zoom for Government)
Registration: Fill out registration form and send via email to [email protected]
We know labor law can sometimes feel like a free-for-all, so we’ve designed this course to cover everything the federal sector labor law practitioner needs to know. We’ll discuss ULPs, negotiability, arbitrations, exceptions to awards, and requesting and responding to RFIs, including what each side needs to present its case and how to obtain it.
We have a one-of-a-kind faculty, including practicing attorneys and HR and LR professionals who can deliver real-world instruction grounded in both the latest case law as well as knowledge of the current climates of the MSPB, FLRA and other federal agencies. Attendees have the opportunity to earn CLE credits.
In addition, we are available to provide virtual training customized to your agency’s specific needs. Please check out our website and feel free to forward this to anyone you think may be interested in our offerings.
Contact us at [email protected] or find out more at www.fedlawtraining.com!