Gun control, marijuana legalization, sexual harassment: Controversies that dominate the headlines also have an impact on the workplace. This forum will cover how Human Resource departments are responding to legal and cultural shifts that affect employees. Does a workplace need to develop rules around bringing guns to work? How could drug-testing impact employment when marijuana is now legal in the state? And how closely should employers take another look—or even a first—at their harassment policies and disciplinary procedures? Join us and ask questions of your own, while sharing coffee from Others! and light breakfast with Greater Portland’s business community. This event is free with registration.

Doors open at 7:15 a.m. Program starts at 7:45 a.m.

On the panel

HOST: Carol Coultas, business editor

Carol Coultas has been practicing journalism in Maine since the mid-‘80s and focusing on business journalism since 2003. She’s been the business editor at the Press Herald, overseeing an award-winning staff, since 2014.

Douglas Currier, Chair of Labor & Employment Group, Verrill Dana

Having practiced law at Verrill Dana since 1985, Doug has handled a wide variety of complicated matters for clients on a regional and national basis. Doug focuses primarily on labor and employment law and litigation representing management, developing workplace strategies that achieve objectives and navigate personnel issues while maintaining compliance with State and Federal laws, such as the Wages and Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA), the Americans with Disabilites Act (ADA) and the National Labor Relations Act (NLR). Doug helps clients form personnel policies, employment contracts and restrictive covenants, collective bargaining agreements and hiring protocols.

Doug has mediated employment-related disputes and served as litigation counsel for businesses facing legal challenges ranging from union and labor arbitrations to wrongful discharge and employment discrimination claims. Doug prides himself in understanding a client business and culture to partner with the client to achieve the best possible result from both a legal and a business perspective.

Deborah Gallant, Vice President, Career Management Associates

Deb Gallant has over thirty years of background and hands-on experience in Human Resources Management and Leadership Development. Prior to joining CMA as a Vice President, she was President of her own HR consulting business for over 20 years, as well as having served as the Director of Leadership Development, OD and Learning at Maine Medical Center/MaineHealth, and at Key Bank as a Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Corporate Training. Deb has earned designations as Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), SHRM-SCP, Certified Compensation Professional (CCP), and a Certified Benefits Professional (CBP).

Deb graduated summa cum laude with a BA in sociology from the University of Maine. She has completed graduate work in Business Administration and Psychology. She is also a graduate of “The Program on Negotiation” at Harvard Law School, a graduate of the McGill International Executive Institute’s Accounting and Finance Program, and received her Green Belt in Lean Six Sigma in 2014. Deb is certified to conduct Emotional Intelligence assessments, DiSC work style assessments, to teach Conflict Resolution Skill Building, and to administer the MRG Leadership Effectiveness Tool.

Leora Kirk, Consultant, KMA Human Resources Consulting

Leora Kirk has worked with both for-profit and non-profit organizations, providing complex conflict resolution, training and development, policy and handbook development, workers compensation, and recruitment. Prior to joining KMA, Leora was Senior Human Resources Generalist for Schlotterbeck & Foss. Before that, she worked as HR Generalist for Catholic Charities of Maine.

Leora is a member of the Society of Human Resource Management (Certified Professional), holds a current Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification, and has a BA in Psychology from the University of Southern Maine. She served in the Israeli Defense Force from 2000 to 2002 where she studied aspects of Industrial Psychology and Military Organizational Behavior among new recruits. She resides in Durham with her husband and daughter, where she enjoys a quiet Maine lifestyle.

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