On August 17, 2022, Gunster Board Member Joe Santoro and Shareholder Holly Goodman will co-host a TaxWatch Webinar discussing the Stop WOKE Act. Since 1979, TaxWatch has served as an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit taxpayer research institute and government watchdog, working to improve the productivity and accountability of Florida government.
Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law the bill commonly referred to as the “Stop WOKE Act” on July 1, 2022. The law prohibits mandatory employee trainings regarding certain topics that are often discussed or implicated in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) trainings. Under the proposed law, if an organization with 15 or more employees requires an employee to participate in a DEI training, the employee may allege employment discrimination, as Joe and Holly will detail in this webinar.
Joseph Santoro is a shareholder who joined Gunster in 2002 and serves on the firm’s board of directors. He is one of the founding members and, for more than a decade, served as the chair of Gunster’s Labor & Employment practice. Joe is an experienced trial lawyer who represents clients in courts throughout the country in a variety of high-profile litigation matters.
As a board certified labor and employment attorney, Holly Griffin Goodman focuses her practice on counseling clients, from small businesses to large institutions, in everyday employment matters. Starting with the hiring process through discipline and termination, Holly’s goal is to help businesses manage their employees, and balance the interests of the business with obligations under federal, state, and local employment laws.