2024 Employment Law Summit
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Join us for RI SHRM’s 3rd Annual Employment Law Summit, presented in partnership with the Employers Association of the Northeast (EANE)!
Get ready to dive into the latest Federal and State legislative updates, and gain a solid grasp of current, new, and pending laws. Stay tuned for announcements on additional educational sessions and our lineup of fantastic speakers!
Registration is $179. Register today and be part of this exciting event!
In response to overwhelming demand, we’re offering a discount to employers who purchase a table -- $1,000 for 8 seats, a total savings of nearly $200! To purchase your table, please call the EANE office at 877-662-6444.
Learn More about our Speakers
Kenneth An, Office Director
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Boston Area
Kenneth An is the Director of the Boston Area Office of the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Kenneth has sat on several Boards, such as the New England Chapter of the Organization of Chinese Americans and Quincy Asian Resources, Incorporated. He was a member of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Regional Networking Group for Region 1 and served as a Commissioner on the Massachusetts Asian American Commission. Kenneth received awards for his professional and personal accomplishment that includes an Outstanding Achievement Award from the Federal Asian Pacific American Coalition; EEOC District Director’s Awards; EEOC Chair’s Organizational/Core Awards; and an Unsung Hero Award from the National Organization of Chinese Americans. At the EEOC, Kenneth conducted training for new investigators and on topics that include Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender rights; the Genetic Non-Discrimination Information Act; Fact-Finding Conferences; Pre-Determination Interviews; Human Trafficking; and, Cultural Awareness/Asian-American Pacific Islander. Kenneth immigrated to America with his parents from Taiwan when he was five-years of age and received his bachelor’s degree from Boston University and a jurist doctorate from Suffolk University Law School.
Mark Adams, Director of Compliance
Employers Association of the NorthEast (EANE)
Mark leads EANE’s HR compliance operations, providing services to member companies and directing programs for affirmative action, background checking, and data surveys. A frequent writer and speaker throughout the region, Mark guides management-level and C-suite professionals on topical issues ranging from drug testing to FMLA to employee vs. independent contractor laws.
He is the primary editor and author of EANE’s e-alerts, keeping members in-the-know about pending legal and regulatory developments critical to the workplace. Mark is a graduate of The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. and the Western New England College School of Law where he obtained his Juris Doctor in 1992.
Francesco (Fran) DeLuca, Shareholder
Ogletree Deakins
Employers look to Fran to represent them in labor and employment disputes. He has litigated single-plaintiff discrimination and retaliation suits, wage-and-hour class and collective matters, high-stakes whistleblower cases, and unfair competition actions. He has represented clients before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, National Labor Relations Board, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and other state and federal agencies. Regardless of the type of matter, Fran strives to develop creative strategies that mitigate risk and account for the client’s business objectives.
In addition to his litigation practice, Fran is a trusted advisor to employers across industries. He works with them to develop and update handbooks, policies, and agreements; respond to and investigate internal complaints; manage leaves of absence and accommodation requests; handle sensitive terminations; protect confidential information and trade secrets; and train their workforce on a variety of issues.
Michael D. Évora, Executive Director
Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights
Michael D. Évora served as Associate Legal Counsel for the Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights for three years before becoming the agency’s Executive Director in November of 2002. He is a former Investigator and Senior Compliance Officer for the agency, and a former Equal Opportunity Specialist for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Mr. Évora possesses a B.A. in English and Theatre from Dartmouth College, a Master of Public Administration from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs (Syracuse University), and a J.D. from Yale Law School. After law school, and prior to returning to the RI Commission for Human Rights, he served as a Law Clerk to the Honorable Victoria Lederberg on the Supreme Court of Rhode Island and as an Assistant Public Defender in the Juvenile Division of the (RI) Office of Public Defender. Mr. Evora is the recipient of the Community Mediation Center of Rhode Island’s Commitment to Peaceful Conflict Resolution Award (2003), the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development’s Fair Housing Month Advocate Award (2007), the Rhode Island for Community & Justice’s Community and Justice Award (2011), and the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. State (RI) Holiday Commission’s Community Service Award (2013). He also was honored in 2015 by RI for Community and Justice as part of the team of community members and law enforcement officials who drafted and successfully collaborated to achieve passage of the 2015 Comprehensive Community-Police Relationship Act of 2015. In 2016, he received the Sister Ann Keefe Community and Faith Service Award from the Rhode Island State Council of Churches.
Sean M. Fontes, Counsel - Employment and Litigation Practice Groups
Partridge, Snow & Hahn, LLP
Sean serves as Counsel in the Employment and Litigation practice groups of Partridge, Snow & Hahn, LLP, focusing on employment law compliance and employer-side litigation. Sean counsels businesses on new and existing employment and labor law compliance, handles all aspects of collective bargaining agreements, and represents employers in investigations by federal and state regulatory agencies and in employee lawsuits for discrimination and wage and hour claims. Sean also provides trainings to employers on compliance and best practices.
Prior to Partridge, Snow & Hahn, LLP, Sean led the Legal Division at the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training (DLT), providing Sean with the ability to render practical and informed advice to employers on wage and hour and equal pay investigations and corresponding self-audits.
Sean also represents businesses in litigation, prevailing wage and public works bidding, including counseling construction management firms, collective bargaining units, community-based organizations, minority business enterprises, and government procurement officials in public works projects and project labor agreements.
Sean is a graduate of Boston College Law School and licensed to practice law in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York and is a frequent lecturer on current topics in labor and employment law.
Lauren E. Hill, Chief Legal Counsel
Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights
Lauren E. Hill is the chief legal counsel for the Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights. Lauren was previously a special assistant attorney general in the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office, Civil Division and has experience in both government and private practice defense work. She came to Rhode Island as a Leadership for Education Equity public policy fellow in 2016, working in the Office of Gov. Gina Raimondo and the Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Before becoming an attorney, she was a public high school teacher and is a Teach For America alumna. Lauren holds a B.A. in journalism from the University of Oklahoma and a J.D. with highest pro bono distinction from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University and clerked for the Honorable Peter B. Swann of the Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One. Lauren was selected as a fellow in 2023-2024 cohort of the Women’s Policy Institute of the Women’s Fund of Rhode Island, which advocates for policies to improve the lives of the state’s women and girls.
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