Ground Rules: Employment Law Over Your Coffee Break

 Most employers know depositions are part of the litigation process—but few realize just how much preparation, strategy, and disruption they involve. In this episode, Pam Howland, Jennifer Walrath, and Doug Plass discuss the top 10 things that surprise employers about depositions, from marathon questioning and document-heavy testimony to attorney tactics and the importance of preparation. Whether...

Artificial intelligence is evolving rapidly, but thoughtful strategy will always outlast the latest technology. In the final installment of our three-part AI series, Pam Howland, Jennifer Walrath, Doug Plass, and AI governance and strategy consultant Ally Ross discuss what separates organizations that are successfully leveraging AI from those creating unnecessary risk. The conversation explores wh...

The EEOC released its new National Enforcement Plan in June 2026, and it reads like a roadmap of exactly where enforcement is headed through 2029. I sat down with Jennifer Walrath and Doug Plass to break down what's in it and what it means for you as an employer. This is not a vague document. The EEOC is telling employers and their attorneys precisely which types of cases it plans to bring an...

 What do AI policies have in common with traffic laws? More than you might think. In Part 2 of our AI series, Ally Ross uses a "rules of the road" analogy to explain how employers can create practical guardrails for AI use. The conversation covers policy development, human oversight, bias concerns, documentation, monitoring, and why doing nothing may be the riskiest approach of all.  *Gr...

Summer is one of the busiest hiring seasons of the year, and for many employers, that means bringing teenagers onto the team. But hiring minors comes with unique legal requirements that can catch employers off guard. In this episode of Ground Rules, Pam Howland, Jennifer Walrath, and Doug Plass discuss the top five things employers should know before hiring teens for summer work. From hazardous oc...

In this installment of the Law for Leaders Book Club , Pam Howland, Jennifer Walrath, and Doug Plass break down one of the most common areas where employers find themselves facing claims and lawsuits: employee discipline and termination. Drawing from Chapter 4 of Law for Leaders: The Roadmap Every Leader Needs to Know to Avoid Workplace Claims and Lawsuits , they discuss why documentation matters,...

Artificial intelligence is moving into the workplace faster than most employers can keep up with — especially in hiring, HR, and day-to-day operations. But with that opportunity comes growing legal and compliance risk. In this episode of Ground Rules, Pam Howland, Jennifer Walrath, and Doug Plass sit down with Ally Ross of Saig Advice to talk about what employers should actually be thinking about...

When an employment lawsuit lands on your desk, most employers expect the facts to speak for themselves and the case to quickly go away. In reality, litigation is rarely that simple. In this episode of Ground Rules, experienced employment litigators Pam Howland, Jennifer Walrath, and Doug Plass pull back the curtain on what employment lawsuits actually look like from the defense side. They discuss...

What are the biggest employment law risks employers should be paying attention to in 2026? In this episode of Ground Rules, Pam Howland, Jennifer Walrath, and Megan Egbert break down the top five issues they believe every employer, HR professional, and leader should have on their radar this year. From rising ADA claims and shifting EEOC priorities to workplace incivility, documentation mistakes, a...

A new Idaho law is creating big questions for employers ahead of its July 2026 effective date. In this episode of Ground Rules , attorneys Pam Howland, Jennifer Walrath, and Idaho legislator Megan Egbert break down Idaho’s new “Bathroom Bill” (HB 752) and discuss what businesses should be thinking about now. The conversation covers:  What the law actually says   Which employers and businesses may...

In this week's Ground Rules episode, we continue our Law for Leaders Book Club with Chapter Three: Why You Need to Document and What Your Documentation Needs to Say. Here's what we cover: Why a lack of documentation leaves a void, and how that void gets filled by whatever the employee imagines the reason to be Why "we're an at-will state" doesn't protect you if a clai...

AI is changing the workplace—and not always for the better. In this episode, we break down the emerging issue of deepfake harassment, including realistic fake images, audio, and video being used in ways that can create a hostile work environment. We discuss a recent case with a multimillion-dollar verdict, why employers can still be liable even if they don’t know who created the content, and how t...

The Idaho Human Rights Commission saw a major increase in filings this year—but the story doesn’t end there. We’re joined by Ben Earwicker, Administrator of the IHRC, to dive into the 2025 IHRC statistics and trends, including what’s driving the spike, what hasn’t changed, and where employers should be paying closer attention. We cover disability and accommodation claims, shifting workplace dynami...

What happens when an employee leaves—and you suspect they took more than just their experience with them? In this episode, we build on Chapter 15 of Law for Leaders and unpack the growing number of claims involving stolen confidential information, customer relationships, and trade secrets. We talk through the real-world challenges employers face in these situations, including one of the biggest hu...

Most workplace claims don’t start with bad intent—they start with missed signals. In this episode, we discuss why issue-spotting is one of the most critical skills for supervisors, how gaps in training create risk, and what it takes to recognize problems early and respond appropriately. That’s exactly why we created No Judgment Here —an interactive training tool designed to get leaders talking thr...

In this episode of Ground Rules: Employment Law Over Your Coffee Break , Pam, Doug, and Jen discuss what they’re seeing from the EEOC in the first few months of 2026. Reviewing recent lawsuits, settlements, and agency announcements, the team talks about the claims that continue to show up the most — especially disability discrimination — along with newer enforcement priorities that employers shoul...

This week on Ground Rules , Pam, Doug, and Jen welcome back former Idaho Employment Lawyers attorney Ben Cramer, now serving as a civil deputy prosecuting attorney for Canyon County. Ben shares what employment law looks like from the public employer side and why those cases often come with added layers of complexity. The conversation focuses on whistleblower claims under the Idaho Protection of Pu...

In this episode, we are joined by IEL attorney and Idaho State Representative Megan Egbert to discuss proposed legislation from the 2026 session that could impact employers across the state. We cover bills involving public accommodation liability, independent contractor benefits, e-Verify requirements, nondiscrimination ordinances, and other trends Megan is seeing this year. Although these bills a...

When an employee complaint comes in, the first 24 hours can shape everything that follows. In this episode, Pam Howland, Doug Plass, and Jennifer Walrath walk through the critical early steps employers should take—from acknowledging the complaint and reviewing policies to preserving evidence and planning an investigation. They also discuss common mistakes that can create additional legal risk and...

In this episode of Ground Rules , we continue our Law for Leaders book club with Chapter Two: At-Will Employment. What does “at-will” really mean—and what does it not mean? The team breaks down common misconceptions (including the difference between at-will and right-to-work), why documentation matters more than ever, and how failing to clearly communicate termination decisions can fuel discrimina...

What happens when something in the workplace—like perfume, dogs, or even food allergens—triggers a serious medical reaction for an employee? In this episode, Pam Howland, Jennifer Walrath, and Doug Plass talk through how employers should approach allergens and irritants as potential ADA accommodation issues. They cover common (and not-so-common) scenarios, including fragrance sensitivities, pet-fr...

An IHRC complaint is one of those things that can make an employer’s stomach drop. But what you do next matters—a lot. In this episode, Pam Howland is joined by Doug Plass and Jennifer Walrath to talk through how employers should respond when they receive a complaint from the Idaho Human Rights Commission (IHRC) or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). They explain how the agencies w...

On January 22, 2026, the EEOC rescinded its 2024 harassment guidance—an update many employers and attorneys viewed as a long-overdue, practical resource. In this episode, Pam Howland and Jennifer Walrath break down what EEOC guidance is, what the 2024 harassment guidance covered (including technology and post-Bostock workplace issues), and why the EEOC’s decision to pull it matters. We also discus...

Employment handbooks may not be exciting—but they remain one of the most effective tools employers have to prevent claims and defend against liability. In this episode of Ground Rules , Pam Howland and Doug Plass break down why 2026 is a critical year to revisit and update your handbook, even if you think yours is “recent enough.” They discuss emerging and evolving issues employers should be addre...

In this Law for Leaders Book Club episode, the attorneys at Idaho Employment Lawyers break down why supervisor training is one of the most effective ways to prevent workplace claims. Supervisors make daily decisions that can expose employers to risk — often without realizing it. The discussion covers evolving compliance issues supervisors need to recognize, including ADA accommodations, the Pregna...