HR Fundamentals That Keep Employers Out of Court with Gerald Maatman

In episode 260 Coffey talks with Gerald Maatman Jr. about reducing employment litigation risk in an increasingly complex legal environment.  They discuss the realities and limitations of at-will employment in modern workplaces; litigation avoidance strategies for business owners and HR leaders; how employers should evaluate settlement versus defense decisions; reverse discrimination and evolving protected class litigation trends; federal, state, and municipal employment law compliance challenges; managing multi-state employment law requirements and policy administration; workplace culture, employee trust, and internal complaint systems; the role of HR as advisor, coach, and organizational risk manager; wage and hour class action litigation and emerging workplace legal threats; artificial intelligence governance and employment-related legal exposure; workplace privacy, biometric data, and employee information security risks; equal pay litigation and compensation equity concerns; religious accommodation and changing EEOC enforcement priorities; frontline manager training and its impact on legal risk; remote work management challenges and post-pandemic workplace dynamics; practical documentation, communication, and employee relations best practices.  For HR teams who discuss this podcast in their team meetings, we've created a discussion starter PDF to help guide your conversation. Download it here https://goodmorninghr.com/EP260  Good Morning, HR is brought to you by Imperative—Bulletproof Background Checks. For more information about our commitment to quality and excellent customer service, visit us at https://imperativeinfo.com.   If you are an HRCI or SHRM-certified professional, this episode of Good Morning, HR has been pre-approved for half a recertification credit. To obtain the recertification information for this episode, visit https://goodmorninghr.com.   About our Guest:  Gerald L. Maatman, Jr., is the Chair of Duane Morris LLP's Class Action Defense Team. With nearly four decades of experience practicing law, he has defended some of the most significant bet-the-company cases ever filed against corporate America. Mr. Maatman has represented companies, executive teams, and boards across the country in class action litigation, ranging in size from thousands to hundreds of thousands of claims by employees. In addition to his litigation work, Mr. Maatman helps clients anticipate large-scale risks before they escalate into litigation.  Gerald L. Maatman, Jr can be reached at   https://www.duanemorris.com/attorneys/geraldmaatman.html  https://www.linkedin.com/in/geraldmaatman/  https://x.com/g_maatman About Mike Coffey:  Mike Coffey is an entrepreneur, licensed private investigator, business strategist, HR consultant, and registered yoga teacher. In 1999, he founded Imperative, a background investigations and due diligence firm helping risk-averse clients make well-informed decisions about the people they involve in their business. Imperative delivers in-depth employment background investigations, know-your-customer and anti-money laundering compliance, and due diligence investigations to more than 300 risk-averse corporate clients across the US, and, through its PFC Caregiver & Household Screening brand, many more private estates, family offices, and personal service agencies. Imperative has been named a Best Places to Work, the Texas Association of Business’ small business of the year, and is accredited by the Professional Background Screening Association.  Mike shares his insight from 25+ years of HR-entrepreneurship on the Good Morning, HR podcast, where each week he talks to business leaders about bringing people together to create value for customers, shareholders, and community. Mike has been recognized as an Entrepreneur of Excellence by FW, Inc. and has twice been recognized as the North Texas HR Professional of the Year.  Mike serves as a board member of a number of organizations, including the Texas State Council, where he serves Texas’ 31 SHRM chapters as State Director-Elect; Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County; the Texas Association of Business; and the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, where he is chair of the Talent Committee. Mike is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) through the HR Certification Institute and a SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP). He is also a Yoga Alliance registered yoga teacher (RYT-200) and teaches multiple times each week. Mike and his very patient wife of 29 years are empty nesters in Fort Worth.  Learning Objectives: Understand how employment litigation develops and how organizations can reduce legal exposure. Evaluate HR policies and management practices that strengthen workplace compliance and employee trust. Implement practical approaches to documentation, manager training, and personnel decision-making that withstand legal scrutiny.