In 1978, Congress passed the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which sought to protect the workplace rights of pregnant women. Yet in 2006, the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission logged approximately 5,000 charges of pregnancy-based discrimination.

Thomas H. Barnard, a partner in the Cleveland office of Ogletree Deakins, a national labor and employment law firm, will discuss the effectiveness and the effect on the workplace of this well-intentioned legislation during a free public lecture on Tuesday, November 18 at 5 p.m. at Cleveland State University’s Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.

Barnard’s lecture, “The Impact of Pregnancy Discrimination on the Workplace” is free, open to the public and offers one free hour of Continuing Legal Education credit. It is the first presentation in the law school’s 2008-09 Labor & Employment Law Speakers Series.

Barnard is well suited to the topic. His law degree is from Columbia University and his LLM is from Case Western Reserve University School of Law; he is a highly regarded member of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, who has been consistently commended in BEST LAWYERS IN AMERICA, Labor and Employment Law, and repeatedly recognized as an Ohio Super Lawyer. He focuses his practice on all aspects of labor and employment law, including complex employment litigation, jury trials, administrative hearings, collective bargaining and arbitrations. He has litigated more than 36 class action cases, tried 10 class action EEOC cases and tried numerous EEO cases. He previously held significant governmental positions with the U.S. Department of Labor (1968-1971).

The Cleveland-Marshall College of Law Employment and Labor Law curriculum, Employment Law Clinic and annual Employment and Labor Law Speakers Series address the concerns of employers and employees and issues that arise in both union and non-union workplaces.

For more information, please call 216.687.6886 or visit www.law.csuohio.edu.

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