UC College of Law hosts Lecture 'Contemporary Issues in Discrimination Law'

As part of the UC Project on Law and Business, the College of Law will host a conversation with EEOC Commissioner Charlotte Burrows and senior counsel Cathy Ventrell-Monsees on March 1. The two will examine contemporary topics in discrimination law, including age discrimination, pay equity and diversity.

The discussion, led by the College of Law’s Professor

Sandra Sperino

, will include a reflection on the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and its continuing importance 50 years after its enactment.

The UC Project on Law and Business is a collaboration between the university’s

Lindner College of Business

and

College of Law

, offering year-long programming that brings in regional and national experts to discuss the relationship between between business and law.

The partnerships between the two colleges allows students from both programs the ability to benefit from interdisciplinary study, providing a richer scholarly exchange. Rather than limiting students to the faculty members and curriculums in their own respective programs, the collaborative efforts enrich the students overall educational experience at UC.

About Charlotte Burrows, Commissioner, EEOC

A veteran of Capital Hill and the Department of Justice, Equal Employment Opportunity Commissioner Charlotte Burrows served as general counsel for Civil and Constitutional Rights to (the late) Senator Edward M. Kennedy on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and as legal counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

At the Department of Justice, Burrows worked in the Civil Rights Division's Employment Litigation Section first as a trial attorney, and later as special litigation counsel. Later, she served as associate Deputy Attorney General, where she worked with a wide range of policy, including employment litigation, tribal justice, voting rights and implementation of the Violence Against Women Act.

Confirmed by a Senate vote of 93-2, Burrows was nominated by former President Barack Obama to serve as commissioner of the EEOC. She received an AB from Princeton University and a JD from Yale Law School.

About Cathy Ventrell-Monsees, Senior Counsel at the EEOC

Cathy Ventrell-Monsees has served as senior counsel to the EEOC since September 2014. She has actively practiced employment discrimination law for decades.

Ventrell-Monsees directed the age discrimination litigation project at AARP from 1985-98. Prior to this role, she was a member of the Board of Directors of the National Employment Lawyers Association, serving as its vice president of Public Policy and as chair of the Age Discrimination Committee.

Currently, she is the president of Workplace Fairness, a nonprofit dedicated to educating workers about their employment rights. Ventrell-Monsees is the co-author of "Age Discrimination Litigation." In addition to her legal practice, she currently teaches employment discrimination law at Washington College of Law at American University.

This event is sponsored by both the Lindner College of Business and the College of Law. The event is free, and open to the UC community and the surrounding legal and business community.