As a Director in the Firm's Labor and Employment Group, Ms. Faeth focuses her practice on representing employers in a broad array of employment-related disputes.  She recently met with nine Russian labor leaders to provide a perspectiveon workplace safety and unemployment compensation issues in the United States.  Ms. Faeth serves as Chair of the Pro Bono Committee and the Deputy Vice President of Legal Personnel.

Valerie’s areas of concentration include: 

• Counseling and representing employers with respect to unemployment claims and appeals
• Providing general employment advice
• Counseling employers regarding employee terminations
• Counseling employers on Family Medical Leave Act and Americans with Disabilities Act compliance
• Conducting sexual harassment training
• Drafting and reviewing employee handbooks and personnel policies
• Counseling employers on OSHA inspections
• Counseling and representing employers in Workers’ Compensation litigaton
• Providing advice to clients regarding Fair Credit Reporting Act disclosure requirements
  

Education

• B.A., Political Science, Bowling Green State University, 1984
• J.D., Duquesne University School of Law, 1987

Memberships

• Member, Labor and Employment Law Section, Pennsylvania Bar Association
• Member, Workers’ Compensation Section, Allegheny County Bar Association
• Member, Best Lawyers Consumer Guide (2001)
• Board of Directors, Arsenal Family & Children’s Center
• Strategic Planning Committee Member, Society Board of Baptist Homes

Seminars & Speeches

• Pennsylvania CareerLink, Effective Interviewing, Employee Terminations and Workplace Violence, Pittsburgh, PA (September 18, 2006)
• Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers’ Compensation Conference, Employment Issues Associated with Handling Workers’ Compensation Cases, Hershey, PA (June 12, 2006)
• Allegheny General Hospital, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Mock deposition of an IME physician, Pittsburgh, PA (February 9, 2006)
• Healthsouth Rehabilitation Hospital, Mock physician’s deposition, Harmarville, PA (October 28, 2005)
• Healthsouth Rehabilitation Hospital, Mock workers’ compensation hearing, Harmarville, PA (November 10, 2004)
• Healthsouth Rehabilitation Hospital, Determining Whether Arthritic Changes Are Compensable Under the Workers' Compensation Act, Harmarville, PA (March, 2003)
• Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, Analyzing Hearing Loss Cases, Pittsburgh, PA (January 26, 2001)
• Allegheny County Workers’ Compensation Information Exchange, Current Case Law in Pennsylvania, Re: Psychiatric Claims, Pittsburgh, PA (May 18, 1999) with Anne M. Lavelle
• Industry for Workers’ Compensation Reform (IWCR), How to Terminate the Employment of a Workers’ Compensation Claimant, Greensburg, PA (June 19, 1998)
• Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce, Act 57 – How It Will Be Implemented By The Finalized Regulations (February 27, 1998)
• Pittsburgh Personnel Association Seminar, Act 57 Proposed Regulations (November 1997)
• 8th Annual Conference of Workers’ Compensation (October 1, 1997)
• Defense Research Institute, Legislative Trends in Workers’ Compensation (February 1997)
• Custom Conference Development, Workers’ Compensation: Managing into the 21st Century (December 1996)
• Professional Education Systems, Inc., Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Law (April 1996)
• Institute of Business Law, The Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act (October 1995)
• Pittsburgh Association of Group Executives, 1993 Amendments to the Workers’ Compensation Act (June 1994)
• Allegheny Medical Society, Mock Deposition for Physicians (April 1992)