After Bostock: Building an LGBTQ+ Friendly Legal Workplace

"The Supreme Court in Bostock confirmed Title VII anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ employees, but employers must do more to build a workplace environment that allows LGBTQ+ employees to feel included and valued. What should employers do to make their workplace LGBTQ+ friendly, where LGBTQ+ employees are comfortable bringing their full selves to work? This panel will provide specific strategies on how law firms and legal departments can be fully inclusive for LGBTQ+ legal professionals and will also provide tips on addressing challenges that may arise.

 

Latha M. Srinivasan has been a licensed attorney in the state of Ohio for 23 years and has worked in the areas of labor and employment law, business and civil litigation, EEO/HR/AAP compliance, and workplace diversity and inclusion management and implementation. She has worked in the area of EEO and HR Compliance for the last 8 years. Prior to that, she was in private practice for 15 years. Ms. Srinivasan has presented numerous seminar topics on the various federal and state employment laws and has contributed articles for the Bar Journal of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association and other publications in the areas of employment law, social media, and work life balance. She also regularly speaks on lactation laws in the workplace. Ms. Srinivasan is a member of the Akron Bar Association and the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association (CMBA). She currently serves in their Labor & Employment Sections, Women in Law Sections, and Diversity and Inclusion Committees. She is also on the CMBA’s Lawyers Mental Health and Wellness Committee. In addition, she is a Board Member of the Ohio Industrial Liaison Group, a member of the Society for Human Resource Management, and is certified as an Edison Electric Institute employment testing manager/lead. She completed The Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio's LeadDIVERSITY program in June 2013. In 2012, Ms. Srinivasan founded a middle school mock trial team at Menlo Park Academy, a K-8 school for gifted students in the city of Cleveland and continues to serve as the team’s lead volunteer attorney coach. Ms. Srinivasan earned her undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Rochester and her J.D. degree from the Case Western Reserve University School of Law, where she was awarded the Paul J. Hergenroeder Award in Trial Tactics.

 

Wesley Bizzell serves as Senior Assistant General Counsel and Managing Director of Political Law and Ethics Programs, External Affairs for Altria Client Services Inc. (“ALCS”). Wesley provides in-house legal counsel on matters relating to the political, legislative, and lobbying activities of Altria Group, Inc., its services companies, including ALCS, and its operating companies, including Philip Morris USA Inc., U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. LLC, John Middleton Co., and Ste. Michelle Wine Estates Ltd.

 

In this role, Wesley is responsible for ensuring that Altria and its companies comply with all laws and regulations regarding federal, state, local, and international campaign finance, government ethics, gifts to government officials, lobbying disclosure and reporting, and charitable giving. Overseeing a comprehensive compliance system covering the regulation of government affairs, Wesley provides advice and guidance on political law compliance for more than 75 jurisdictions. Wesley also heads the legal team that supports Altria’s public policy activities, providing services related to legislative and regulatory drafting and interpretation. Wesley is a member of Altria’s Compliance Leadership Team and its Anti-Corruption Compliance Working Group."