On September 24, 2009, I presented at the University of Illinois’ “Finding Talent” program for employers & recruiters. My presentation concerned legal issues surrounding background checking, electronic communication & social networking in recruiting & selection.

My seminar handout, PowerPoint, some cases and sample background checking waiver forms are available here.

The actual seminar was recorded as a webinar and is available here (due to WordPress’ file size restrictions the link takes you to a zipped file which requires unzipping; other than that it’s a typical media file that can be played on most media players).

Today, May 2, 2009, I’ll be interviewed live on Chicago’s Kennedy King College’s radio station, WKKC 89.3 FM.  During this 50-minute long interview, hosts Derek McNeal and Charles Young will question me about general labor and employment law issues from management and employee perspectives.  This will be my 3rd appearance on the show since June 2007.  My April 13, 2008 interview is here.  Thanks to Derek, Charles, Stephen Anderson and everyone at WKKC for the opportunity.  This Saturday’s interview will also soon be available online.

Also, on Saturday, May 2, 2009, I’ll be speaking at the Woodlawn Community Service Corporation’s annual “Law Day” at Chicago’s Bessie Coleman Public Library, 731 E. 63rd Street, Chicago (Woodlawn Community obviously).   “Law Day” runs from 1PM-3PM and is free to attend.  I’ll be presenting on and discussing labor and employment law.  Other presenters will be discussing streetlaw, expungement, real estate/landlord tenant and family law.  For more information contact Gail Mercherson (773) 684-2944 or gailmercherson@sbcglobal.net, or check out this PDF flier.  The event is sponsored by WLCSC, the Chicago Bar Association and the Cook County Bar Association.

My blog (this website) received a really cool honor recently.  On April 3, 2009, The Delaware Employment Law Blog published by the law firm of Young, Conway, Stargatt & Taylor, published their Top 100 Employment Law Blogs.  This blog is on it!  Thanks YCST!

On Thursday, April 16, 2009, labor and employment attorneys Lawrence Donoghue and I will be presenting an employer focused seminar on the Employee Free Choice Act (AKA Card Check Bill) at the Greater O’Hare Association.  The seminar runs from 7:30 AM – 9:00 AM at the GOA, 650 E. Devon Ave., #155, Itasca.  It’s $10 per person and includes continental breakfast.  The seminar will cover the EFCA’s overall impact on our economy and what employers need to do to protect and prepare themselves.  To register contact the GOA at 630-773-2944 or on their website.  Also a PDF flyer and registration form is here.

Also, my April 1 radio interview concerning the EFCA is now online and can be listened to or downloaded here.  My segment of the interview (about 20 minutes) concerned the overall economic and political impact of the EFCA and its origins.  See my prior post for more information about this program and interview.

On March 4, 2009, I did a 30-minute presentation for the World Trade Center Illinois’ Doing Business With Latin America seminar at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago.  My part of the day-long seminar concentrated on the Legal & Cultural Considerations for International Trade in Latin America.  My seminar PowerPoint (10 slides) is available here.

Finally, on May 2, I’ll be doing a law seminar for the Woodlawn Community Service Corporation in Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood, and on September 8 in the evening, I’ll be doing a presentation for the University of Illinois system’s alumni career center’s clients, employees, members & associates concerning legal issues in social networking, social media & other electronic recruiting techniques.  This will be at the U of I Chicago campus.  More about these seminars will be posted soon.

This coming Wednesday, April 1, 10 AM-11 AM (CST), Steve Swirsky, Partner, Epstein, Becker & Green in NYC, & I will be the featured guests on Voice America’s program “Return on Human Capital.”  The subject of our live interview will be the Employee Free Choice Act & other proposed “worker freedom acts”.  If any of you would like to call in to harass us, the live call in nos. are 866.472.5787 / 5788 ; you can also email questions for us to leadership@beampines.com.  The URL for the program is http://www.modavox.com/voiceamerica/vepisode.aspx?aid=37381, & the interview will be available online afterward as a podcast/download on the VA site & mine.

My post on “rusing” or “ruse calling” led to a number of interesting and instructive comments.  I thought that it might be worthwhile to respond to them in a single post.

First, I think that it’s a novel concept to equate employees as being the same as “property,” especially in the context of criminally convicting someone for “wire fraud.”   However, in the criminal law context, I don’t think that rusing is the same as wire fraud, unless a company can make a really strong case that an employee is company property and can be barred from going from one employer to another because a recruiter tricked them into leaving, and that the criminal justice system needs to imprison the recruiters perpetrating that fraud in order to prevent them or others from doing the same thing.

Let’s get real about this.  A recruiter who ruses to get past a gatekeeper in order to reach a real decision maker or information holder isn’t committing a federal crime.

But, in answer to the writer who asked if there’s a point where rusing could become illegal the answer is yes.  This will occur when rusing has been clearly indicated as being either criminally or civilly liable conduct.  This can occur via legislation or court decision.  But it hasn’t happened yet.  In the civil law context, liability (money damages or equitable relief) may occur if an enforceable contract or agreement has been violated.