Events
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Complying with Export Control Laws While Avoiding National Origin Discrimination

Strafford Webinars

Live Online Webinar

Blank Rome partner Anthony Rapa will serve as presenting faculty for Competing Employer Obligations: Complying with Export Control Laws While Avoiding National Origin Discrimination, a live Strafford webinar taking place Wednesday, September 27, 2023, from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. PDT / 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. EDT.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) recently settled two cases with companies that engaged in unlawful discrimination in the course of seeking to comply with U.S. export control laws, specifically restrictions relating to the “release” of certain technology to non-U.S. persons. Both companies paid penalties and are subject to ongoing DOJ monitoring and reporting requirements. These settlements demonstrate the dilemma that employers face in seeking to secure controlled technology without violating anti-discrimination laws.

Under U.S. export control laws, exporting certain goods, software, or technology (i.e., technical data, export-controlled material) to other countries requires prior approval from the U.S. government under certain circumstances. For employers, allowing employees who are “foreign persons” to access export-controlled material can be considered an export to that foreign person’s country of citizenship or permanent residency, and thus potentially require an export license. Employers seeking to comply with such rules should be mindful of anti-discrimination laws when crafting compliance processes.

The panel will describe these seemingly conflicting legal obligations for employers, discuss lessons learned from the recent DOJ settlements, and provide best practices for compliance and mitigation of risk.

Topics include:

  • Employer obligations employers under U.S. export control laws
  • When and under what circumstances employers should conduct export control compliance assessments
  • When employer export control obligations conflict might with anti-discrimination laws
  • Best practices for employers to comply with their obligations while mitigating the risk of a discrimination claim

Faculty:

  • Lisa Mays, Attorney, Sheppard Mullin
  • Anthony Rapa, Partner and Co-Chair International Trade Practice Group, Blank Rome
  • Eunkyung Kim Shin, Attorney, Baker & McKenzie

The webinar includes interactive Q&A and CPE credit is available.

For more information and to register, please visit the webinar webpage.