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ERS Group News Items
News and items of special interest relating to ERS Group
- ERS Thoughts
We provide in this issue of ERS Thoughts a discussion of the analyses that are typically put forward by experts in insurance redlining matters. Given the relative ease of conducting such analyses, we foresee a possible increase in insurance redlining claimsas consumer advocates pursue all available means to pursue fair housing objectives. - ERS Group Provides Economic Analysis to Pro-bono Legal Project
The Austin Office of ERS Group recently donated time and resources to create the short article “Growing Economic Development with Farmers’ Markets in Texas” for the non-profit Texas Community Building with Attorney Resources ("Texas C-BAR.") The article discusses the economics behind using Farmer’s Markets as an economic development tool. The article was researched and written by the ERS team of Kevin Jewell, Vivek Shah, and Prateek Shah, and was included in Texas C-BAR’s recently released manual “Home Grown: A Legal Guide to Starting a Nonprofit Farmers’ Market in Texas”. Texas C-BAR provides free business law services across the state to community-based nonprofits developing affordable housing and other services in low-income communities. - ERS Group Director provides key statistical analyses on behalf of plaintiffs in sex-bias suit that settled for $15 Million.
Dr. Janet Thornton provided expert witness testimony and statistical analysis in support of class certification on behalf of plaintiffs in a sex-bias class action suit brought against C.H. Robinson Worldwide. When certifying the class, the court relied upon Dr. Thornton’s statistical analysis and testimony. In addition to the monetary settlement of $15 million, C.H. Robinson has altered business policies pertaining to client entertainment; it has added an equal opportunity director and specialists to its HR department; instituted an annual employee survey on work conditions; and agreed to document annual performance evaluations for all salaried employees. In the settlement announced between C.H. Robinson Worldwide and the female class, the company admits no liability. - ERS Group Director to be a Featured Speaker at the National Employment Law Institute’s 24th Annual Affirmative Action Briefing.
ERS Group Director Joan G. Haworth, Ph.D. will present a statistician’s view on how to properly perform adverse impact and compensation (regression) analyses at the Chicago and San Francisco NELI briefings to be held on October 6, 2006 and October 20, 2006, respectively. Other participants include experienced practitioners in the field: Leonard J. Bierman, NELI's National Director, Human Resource and Affirmative Actions Activities, and formerly Deputy Director and Acting Director, OFCCP; and John C. Fox, currently with the law firm of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP and formerly Executive Assistant to the Director of OFCCP. - ERS Group Director Joan G. Haworth, Ph.D. Speaks at Harvard Law School
ERS Group Director Joan G. Haworth, Ph.D. Speaks at Harvard Law School
4/4/2006
Dr. Joan Haworth, a Director in ERS Group’s Labor and Employment practice area, was a guest speaker in a course on law and statistics entitled “Quantitative Social Science, Law, Expert Witness and Litigation” offered through Harvard Law School and the Harvard Department of Statistics. Dr. Haworth also participated in a panel discussion of academic and interdisciplinary career paths for graduates in law, economics, and statistics, with a particular focus on topics of interest to women in the early days of their careers. Other participants on the panel were Professor Joni Hersch; Harvard University. - ERS Group Consultant Testifies before the Housing and Transportation Subcommittee of the U.S. Senate.
ERS Group Consultant Testifies before the Housing and Transportation Subcommittee of the U.S. Senate.
4/4/2006
Kevin Jewell, an ERS Group Consultant in the Austin office, testified on manufactured housing loan programs before the Housing and Transportation Subcommittee of the US Senate’s Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. Mr. Jewell discussed the challenges of designing asset-building home-ownership programs using manufactured housing. Mr. Jewell has written several reports on the manufactured housing industry.
Mr. Jewell was invited to speak by Senator Sarbanes of Maryland. - ERS Group Director Presents at 32nd Annual American Association for Affirmative Action Conference and Southeastern Michigan Liaison Group Conference
On April 28, 2006 Mary D. Baker, Ph.D., will present “Demystifying Compensation Analysis” at the 32nd Annual American Association for Affirmative Action Conference in Tampa, Florida. On May 11, 2006, Dr. Baker will be the Featured Speaker at the Southeastern Michigan Liaison Group Conference in Detroit Michigan. In her talk entitled “Compensation Audits,” Dr. Baker will discuss the impact recent changes and proposed changes in the OFCCP guidelines will have on federal contractors, as well as provide practical information organizations can use to create job groups that meet the OFCCPs criteria before an audit letter comes in the mail. - Current Trends in Wage and Hour Litigation: Economic, Legal and Statistical Issues
ERS Group will offer a one day seminar on what to expect in the wage and hour arena - both in Federal and California courts. Experienced plaintiff and management attorneys, survey, economic and statistical experts will discuss the practical aspects of wage and hour cases.
Participation is limited to allow ample opportunity to raise questions and issues with the experts.
Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel
Santa Monica, CA
June 12, 2006 - ERS Group Special Consultant to Speak at International Conference on Competition Law
Professor Luke Froeb of Vanderbilt University will speak on methods for merger analysis at a conference entitled “The Use of Economics in Competition Law,” March 22 through 23 in Brussels, Belgium. - ERS Group makes RSS Feeds available
ERS Group newsworthy items on our website. In addition, news items will now be made available via RSS Feeds that staff and clients can subscribe to from the ERS Group web site. - ERS Special Consultant Prepares Critical Economic Study on Computer Hardware Procurement
Professor R. Preston McAfee of Caltech prepared an important new economic study revealing that the inclusion of brand specifications in federal computer hardware procurement may needlessly cost U.S. taxpayers up to $563 million.
Download Whitepaper - ERS Group Special Consultant Testifies Before U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee
Professor R. Preston McAfee of Caltech testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on long-run merger analysis in the oil industry. - Prof. Luke Froeb Speaks at International Economic Policy Conference
ERS Special Consultant Luke Froeb met in Brussels, Belgium with researchers from the Centre for Economic Policy Research to discuss how global economic integration and dramatic changes in technology over the past two decades raise difficult issues for competition policy.
