Hot Topics: Sexual Harassment in the Workplace (Replay) (E1808384)

Ms. Wheatley-Liss counsels business owners on legal and structural issues related to start-up, financing, growth and exit strategy. As a tax attorney, she always keeps an eye on minimizing a business owner's "silent partner" – the IRS. By creating the most efficient organizational structures and contractual arrangements during the infancy and growth of a business she has helped clients keep hundreds of thousands of dollars in their pockets upon the sale of the mature business. To educate both the public and the legal community about issues relating to business ownerships, Ms. Wheatley-Liss is a frequent lecturer to professionals and the public on topics related to start-up, intellectual property, employee and independent contractor issues, wealth transfer, tax minimization, business succession planning and cybersecurity.

Kerri Wright is a principal of Porzio, Bromberg & Newman, P.C. and a member of the firm’s Litigation Practice Group, where she co-chairs the Education and Employment Team. She focuses her practice in the areas of education law and employment law, specifically in representation of management in both employment counseling and employment litigation. Kerri handles a variety of employment law matters for the firm’s public and private sector clients in state and federal courts as well as before administrative agencies, including the EEOC and the New Jersey Department of Labor. She has litigation and counseling experience in numerous areas of employment law, including issues involving wage and hour claims, restrictive covenants, harassment, discrimination, and whistleblowing. She has successfully defended management in class-action wage and hour lawsuits and has handled numerous investigations by management into allegations of employee wrongdoing. Kerri has significant experience representing and counseling school boards, charter schools, private schools and colleges in a variety of areas. She is one of only a few experts in the State in the area of reconfiguring school districts, including the creation and dissolution of regional school districts and the creation and termination of sending-receiving relationships. As an elected member of the Chester Board of Education in Morris County, Kerri is serving in her fourth term. She served several years as the President of the Board, and currently serves as the Chair of the Board’s negotiation committee. She has successfully negotiated employment contracts and collective bargaining agreements with each one of the Board’s labor groups.