Philip M Berkowitz

March 13, 2024 | New York Law Journal

The New York Department of Financial Services imposed a $30 million penalty on the New York branch of a foreign bank. The fine had nothing to do with employment discrimination or wage-and-hour issues—but it was the outcome of an internal transfer of a single New York-based employee to an overseas affiliate, and is a lesson in how financial services clients are at risk of penalties going far beyond those that are normally imposed by employment law regulators.

By Philip M. Berkowitz

6 minute read

November 08, 2023 | New York Law Journal

The SEC recently issued imposed significant and costly sanctions against companies that require employees to sign non-disclosure agreements containing certain language either limiting employees from disclosing company confidential information without company approval, or representing that they have not filed complaints with government entities.

By Philip M. Berkowitz

6 minute read

July 19, 2023 | New York Law Journal

The Supreme Court's recent ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard outlaws consideration of race in university admissions. The decision overturns years of precedent permitting race to be a factor in a holistic admissions process. The decision inaccurately equates diversity efforts with historic racism against Blacks, and unfortunately promises to further divide the nation concerning the value of diversity.

By Philip M. Berkowitz and Johane Severin

11 minute read

November 09, 2022 | New York Law Journal

The privileged nature of the advice and counsel of employment lawyers must not be taken for granted, and it is hoped that the court's ruling in 'In re Grand Jury' will clarify and provide clear guidelines regarding the privilege's application to counsel's activities.

By Philip M. Berkowitz

7 minute read

July 13, 2022 | New York Law Journal

Counsel representing banks in employment litigation need to understand the special privileges and rules regarding access to bank records and disclosures to regulators.

By Philip M. Berkowitz

9 minute read

January 14, 2022 | New York Law Journal

The Supreme Court's decision introduces more uncertainty in a very uncertain time.

By Philip M. Berkowitz

4 minute read

September 08, 2021 | New York Law Journal

Lawyers representing management need to understand how best to advise clients on how to respond to requests from employees to be exempted from these policies.

By Philip M. Berkowitz

9 minute read

March 10, 2021 | New York Law Journal

The recently-enacted Anti-Money Laundering Act significantly increases the potential value of awards for whistleblowers under the Bank Secrecy Act. The challenge for a financial services employer is to establish that discipline against an employee in a compliance role is supported by evidence that the decision was based on the employee's incompetence or other inappropriate behavior, and that any whistleblowing activity he or she engaged in was not a consideration. Philip M. Berkowitz explores the issues in this edition of his Employment Issues column.

By Philip M. Berkowitz

9 minute read

September 09, 2020 | New York Law Journal

In this column on corporate employment issues, Philip M. Berkowitz, discusses the application of the work product doctrine to internal investigations.

By Philip M. Berkowitz

10 minute read

May 13, 2020 | New York Law Journal

Federal, state, and local regulators have sought to provide guidance to financial services employers in coping with the unique circumstances of the current coronavirus lockdown, and inevitably some of this guidance focuses on employment related issues. In his Employment Issues column, Philip M. Berkowitz discusses some of the government guidance issued so far for dealing with various concerns.

By Philip M. Berkowitz

10 minute read