Dipanwita Deb Amar

Amar regularly defends employers in federal and state actions alleging discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination and whistleblower claims.

"Currently, I'm spending a huge chunk of my time on Covid," she said. "The entire way employers do business is changing. I envision a big downsizing of office space, with groups of employees coming in periodically for collaborative work."

Amar and colleagues were among the earliest employment partners writing advisories on the crisis. Before the World Health Organization officially declared a pandemic on March 11, and before any shelter-in-place orders were implemented, Amar published a client advisory discussing the practical and legal issues for employers to consider.

"Law firms and technology companies will probably do just fine in adapting," she said. "Retailers, manufacturers and health care organizations need a workplace. The situation raises a variety of wage and hour issues and OSHA issues."

One plus: "This is going to reduce the prevalence of #metoo cases, due to fewer office interactions," she predicted.

Amar said she has been helping employers navigate work stoppages and work-at-home protocols, and disability and leave of absence issues under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act of March 18, 2020, and similar state and local legislation.

Another upside: "In some fields, before the pandemic, we were seeing a mass exodus of women due to childcare and other home concerns. Now, maybe women will find it possible to work from home with some of those problems allayed. "

Amar's belief that remote work changes the landscape of sexual harassment claims arose well after an investigation she and law partner David J. Reis handled for DLA Piper LLP concerning explosive sexual assault claims by one of its partners, Vanina Guerrero, against another, Louis P.A. Lehot. In the course of defending against Guerrero's claims, the firm received a complaint that Guerrero had herself engaged in inappropriate behavior toward, and harassed, another employee. Amar and Reis investigated those claims. While the results are confidential, there has been no further publicity about Guerrero's allegations. Amar declined to comment on the case.

The coronavirus will lead to court action, Amar believes. "There is litigation brewing out of furloughs and layoffs and the obligations employers have toward work-at-home directives," she said. "Further, there are emerging issues around what employers can ask about workers' medical conditions. Fear of infections has caused the EEOC to loosen regulations with an eye toward informing others of risks."

Amar said the nation is not well prepared for the length of time the pandemic crisis will persist. "It's morphing into something that will go on a lot longer than many thought."

-- John Roemer