section update
Labor & Employment Section
By Benjamin I. Fink
Berman Fink Van Horn P.C.
[email protected]
I
t is hard to believe that we are already halfway through
the summer. When I was asked several years ago to
become the Secretary/Treasurer of our Section, I knew the
day would come when I would take over as Chair. At the
time, it seemed far off, but now it is here and I am excited to
continue the great work of those who have come before me.
We have a truly collegial board and I have enjoyed serving
with the other members the last few years. Given that my
practice focuses on non-compete, trade secret and other
unfair competition litigation, I am not your traditional labor or
employment lawyer. Nevertheless, like my predecessors, I
hope I can bring some energy, enthusiasm and leadership
to the Section.
As many of you may be aware, this year marks the 50th
anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
This landmark piece of civil rights legislation outlawed
discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national
origin. The Act forms the foundation for much of the work in
which members of our Section are engaged and we spend
a lot of time and energy debating, arguing over and litigating
the nuances of the statute and the case law that has grown
up around it. However, during the remainder of this calendar
year, I’d like for all of us to take a step back and think about
the historical context that led to the passage of the Act and
to celebrate the historic nature of this piece of legislation. To
that end, in conjunction with the Labor & Employment Law
Section of the State Bar of Georgia, we are in the process of
planning an event to celebrate the anniversary of the passage
of the Act. Please keep an eye out for upcoming details about
the event. Hopefully, the size and scope of the event will do
justice to this momentous occasion.
At our Spring Luncheon, we were honored to have The Hon.
Alan Baverman speak to a full room at the Capital City Club.
The Hon. Alan Baverman’s talk provided a great historical
perspective on the freedoms we enjoy in this country, including
the right to be free from discrimination, and the central role
we, as lawyers, play in ensuring those freedoms. As The Hon.
Alan Baverman poignantly observed, “[w]e are still striving to
meet and live up to Dwight Eisenhower’s timeless adage: ‘The
general limits of you