Alice DeTora, chair of the Labor and Employment Practice Group, focuses her practice on employer counseling in all areas of employment relations law, including discharge and discrimination issues, personnel policies, immigration, workplace health and safety, and wage and hour issues. She represents a wide array of employers, ranging from Fortune 100 and Global 500 Companies to nonprofit health care organizations and educational institutions to manufacturers, with a focus on compliance and training. She regularly counsels boards of directors and senior management with respect to sensitive executive personnel issues, such as sexual harassment, misappropriation of funds, and drug dependency. In addition, Ms. DeTora provides counseling on and negotiation of separation agreements for high-risk employee terminations. Ms. DeTora also represents employers in related administrative proceedings before federal and state agencies. She is a frequent speaker before business and law groups on employment law issues. In addition, she provides management training on a wide variety of topics, including sexual harassment, hiring and firing techniques, immigration basics, I-9 compliance, and wage and hour laws. Ms. DeTora has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America® in the area of Labor and Employment Law since 2006 (Copyright 2011 by Woodward/White, Inc., Aiken, SC). She has also been included on the Connecticut Super Lawyers® list since 2006 in the areas of Immigration and Employment & Labor Law (Super Lawyers is a registered trademark of Key Professional Media, Inc.). Prior to joining Robinson & Cole, Ms. DeTora served as a law clerk on the Connecticut Supreme Court. Professional Associations - Connecticut Bar Association, Labor and Employment Section, 1990 to present - Connecticut Business & Industry Association, 1995 to present - Connecticut Immigration Lawyers Association, 1988 to present - American Bar Association, Labor and Employment Section, 1990 to present - American Immigration Lawyers Association, 1988 to present Honors and Awards - Listed in Connecticut Super Lawyers® since 2006 in the areas of Immigration and Employment & Labor Law (Super Lawyers is a registered trademark of Key Professional Media, Inc.) - Connecticut Law Tribune, 2010, recognized in Women in the Law: High Achievers yearbook - Listed in The Best Lawyers in America® in the area of Labor and Employment Law since 2006 (Copyright 2011 by Woodward/White, Inc., Aiken, SC) Experience - Obtained the dismissal of a Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities/Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (CHRO/EEOC) discrimination charge based on gender, pregnancy, and familial status brought against an international financial services company that terminated the employee because of her inappropriate use of the e-mail system. - Provided training to over 50 managers and supervisors of a German-based manufacturer of state-of-the-art fabricating machinery on issues relating to hiring, firing, evaluations, and discipline. - Secured the dismissal of a workers' compensation retaliation claim against a 160-bed acute care hospital based on the hospital's neutral absence policy. - Negotiated with the state Department of Labor on behalf of a national jewelry store chain a settlement of a back-pay and civil penalties assessment to less than one half of the amount of the original assessment. - Enabled biotechnology companies, educational institutions, and hospitals in the retention of valuable key scientists, researchers, chemists, professors, and physicians by obtaining both temporary and permanent immigration status. - Provided immigration training to human resources professionals, recruiters, executives and managers, business owners, and in-house counsel for a variety of clients and business organizations, including Fortune 100 and Global 500 companies and one of the world's largest chemical and pharmaceutical companies. - Assisted multinational software services company in staffing their new U.S. offices by successfully obtaining H-1B and L-1 status for their vice president and a team of computer professionals. - Counseled one of the 30 largest financial institutions in the United States with regard to postacquisition I-9 compliance issues and provided guidance for self-audit. - Served as outside employee benefits counsel to a tax-exempt community hospital, providing advice on its employee benefit plans, including its health and welfare arrangements and retirement programs. - Counseled a large hospital in employee benefits matters regarding its acquisition of another hospital in an integrated transaction. Publications & Presentations Presentations - "Connecticut Recent Developments in Employment 2007" (5/16 and 5/17/2007), moderator at the Council on Education in Management - "Employer Best Practices" (9/22/2006) presented at U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Technical Assistance Program Seminar - "Immigration Issues and Compliance" (9/22/2006) presented at Connecticut Business & Industry Association - "Reviewing HR Policies for Pandemics & Other Emergencies" (9/14/2006) presented at Connecticut Business & Industry Association, Manufacturers Advisory Council - "Avian Influenza and Business Continuity Planning" (8/16/2006) presented at Connecticut Business & Industry Association - "Working Effectively with Your Employees: Identifying and Managing Risks" (9/20/2005) presented at Strategic Legal Thinking for Not-for-Profit Executives, sponsored by Pfizer Inc., United Way of Tri-State, and United Way of Southeastern Connecticut - "Preventing Mismanagement and Improper Denial of Intermittent and Reduced Schedule Leave" (5/24/2005) presented at "Connecticut FMLA Update 2005," sponsored by the Council on Education in Management - "E-Discovery, Litigation Holds and Best Practices" (5/11/2005) presented at "Tour of the Electronic Workplace, Business Environment and Litigation Protocols," an executive roundtable - "Sexual Harassment Prevention: Manager Training" (1/2001) presented at Connecticut Business & Industry Association - "Minimizing the Risk of Employee Lawsuits" (5/1996) presented at Independent Connecticut Petroleum Association - "The Non-Violent Workplace: State-of-the-Art Screen of Potentially Dangerous People" (5/1996) presented at Personnel Law Update 1996, sponsored by the Council on Education in Management - "The Hostile Environment - Sexual Harassment and Gender-Based Discrimination" (3/1996) presented at Employment Regulation in Connecticut Seminar, sponsored by the Institute of Business Law - "Sexual Harassment Blackmail" (11/1995) presented at Personnel Law Update 1995, sponsored by the Council on Education in Management - "Substance Abuse in the Workplace" (11/1995) presented at Mid-Fairfield Substance Abuse Seminar - "Employment Regulations in Connecticut" (4/1995) presented at Institute of Business Law, co-conference chair - "Limits to Language in the Workplace: Free Speech, Harassment, English-Only Rules, and More" (10/1994) presented at Personnel Law Update 1994, sponsored by the Council on Education in Management - "Wage and Hour Issues" (9/1994) presented at Checkmates, Inc. seminar - "AIDS and HIV-Related Records" (1/1993) presented at Confidentiality of Medical Records Seminar sponsored by Medical Educational Services News 4.11.11, Labor and Employment Attorneys Address Social Media in the Workplace 9.10.10, Women in the Law and in the News 8.26.10, Reflecting on Workplace Safety Procedures |