Category: Employment Law

Attorney Scott Lepak Receives President's Award

June 22, 2018  |  Barna, Guzy & Steffen, Ltd.

Barna, Guzy & Steffen, Ltd. is pleased to announce that Scott Lepak received the President’s Award from the National Public Employer Labor Relations Association. This award was issued in recognition of Scott’s outstanding service to the National PELRA and his contribution to public sector labor relations. “This award means a lot to me”, Scott said, “The National and Minnesota chapter of PELRA are wonderful organizations”. As the long time editor of the MPELRA newsletter (back when it was printed out and mailed!) and frequent speaker, Scott knows how valuable these organizations are to labor relations professionals in the public sector. In his 30 plus years as a labor lawyer and chief labor negotiator, Scott has seen and been part of the massive changes in this area at both the federal and state levels.

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New Associate Attorney Joins BGS

April 5, 2017  |  Barna, Guzy & Steffen, Ltd.

Barna, Guzy & Steffen LTD. announces the addition of a new associate to our firm. Tyler W. Eubank has joined the firm’s Litigation and Employment Law department. He will be working closely with attorneys practicing in the firm’s growing Litigation/Employment Law area serving existing clients and enhancing the firm’s ability to serve our community. We are happy to welcome Tyler back to BGS as he previously worked in our Litigation/Employment Law department as a law clerk while attending law school. After graduating and receiving his JD, Tyler worked as a Judicial Law Clerk for Honorable Tammi A. Fredrickson. Before attending law school, Tyler spent 6 years living and working in Taiwan as an English Teacher, Intercultural-Manager and Area Trainer. Tyler graduated summa cum laude from Hamline University School of Law in 2015 ranked in the top 10{a0c01d20c42349884e67ff80c137866b0a9fe47aaae8f8a86a605a369ae487c3} of his class. He was on the Dean’s List all semesters and was a Dean’s Summer Fellow in 2013, during which time he also clerked for Honorable Tammi A. Fredrickson. Tyler also worked as Managing and Associate Editor of the Hamline Law Review. Tyler is excited about the opportunity to return to BGS as a Litigation/Employment Law attorney, “It’s great to back at Barna, Guzy & Steffen, I look forward to working with this great group…

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Scott Lepak Presenting on Mental Health and Addiction Issues

June 15, 2016  |  Barna, Guzy & Steffen, Ltd.

Nationally recognized BGS employment law attorney Scott Lepak is presenting today in St. Cloud today on mental health and addiction issues in the workplace.  Speaking at the Advanced Employment Issues conference for the Minnesota Counties Insurance Trust, Scott is providing his perspective and advice on this growing issue in the workplace.  “Advising on mental health and addiction issues in the workplace is a regular part of my practice”, Scott says, “Employers have become much more adept at dealing with mental health issues since the Americans with Disabilities Act was enacted in 1990.”  He added, “With the nationally recognized opioid problem, employers are now becoming more adept at recognizing issues arising from the illegal use of drugs.”  Scott notes that, while the ADA provides protections for individuals who have successfully completed a supervised drug program or are participating in a supervised rehabilitation program, there is an important exception.   Individuals who currently engage in the illegal use of drugs are specifically excluded from the definition of an individual with a disability when an employer takes action on the basis of their current use.  Scott says that successfully navigating between protected status and unprotected conduct is an area where an employer should immediately contact their employment attorney when an issue arises.

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