Friday February 4, 2022
12:30-1:30 p.m.
Online Zoom Meeting
Dear Colleagues:
Greetings from the dead of winter. There may not be enough cold for the good of the planet, but it’s pretty obvious that those of us in Cleveland are not going to be sunbathing anytime soon. Which means doing Zoom meetings because of a virus is also sort of cozy, still.
We continue with the “Friday Lunch,” a CWRU tradition since 1989. I would like to think we’ll be able to have some in-person meetings sometime during the term, but it doesn’t look like a discussion with people eating lunch in relatively close quarters is a good idea yet. For now, we’ll continue presenting experts from campus and sometimes beyond to discuss important issues for the university, local community, nation or the international stage. This Friday’s topic is maybe a bit too close to home for my comfort, but involves important issues for public policy.
This Week’s Program
In a new paper, Sharona Hoffman writes that, “cognitive decline will increasingly become a workplace concern because of three intersecting trends.” One is the rising average age of the U.S. population. This then is related to more individuals “postponing retirement and prolonging their working lives. For example, about a quarter of physicians are over sixty-five, as are fifteen percent of attorneys. The average age of federal judges is sixty-nine.” And perhaps most important, new technologies have made it easier for “physicians to detect potential signs of dementia long before symptoms emerge,” which may tempt employers “to pursue these diagnostic tools because cognitive decline can cause a multitude of complex challenges in the workplace, threatening productivity, workplace morale, and public safety.”
A range of federal laws, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, might make it more difficult for employers to test for cognitive decline or respond to it. At the same time, workplace concerns are real, and reducing the risk to clients can be viewed as a crucial part of professional ethics. As Professor Hoffman points out, the American Bar Association’s Model Code of Professional Conduct says that lawyers with doubts about a colleague’s “fitness… shall inform the appropriate professional authority.” Concerns have especially been raised about physicians, given the life-or-death dependence of patients on their doctors. She gives a fine example of the policy dilemma. Yale New Haven hospital required health care providers “age seventy or older who sought reappointment to its medical staff to undergo a neuropsychological assessment.” Out of 141 clinicians, eighteen “were found to have cognitive deficits that were likely to impair their job performance. All of the individuals chose to leave their practice or to move ‘into a closely proctored environment.’” And then the hospital was sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for age and disability discrimination.
As someone very different once said, “What is to be done?” In her paper, Professor Hoffman seeks a way to balance “the interests and difficulties faced by all stakeholders: employers, workers, and the public.” It seems like a fascinating topic to me, and I know from experience that she finds and illuminates important topics. She has spoken to the Friday Lunch about Race and the Law; the regulation and oversight of Electronic Health Records; the Use and Misuse of Big Data; and “Step Therapy” which limits access to prescription drugs. Each time I’ve learned (and used her work in my own writing). So it will be a great pleasure to once again welcome Professor Hoffman and learn from her new work.
Signing In
This semester’s discussions will begin at 12:30 p.m., the usual time. The meeting will be set up as from Noon to 2:00 p.m., so people are not all signing in at the same time and to allow for the discussion to run a bit long. Each week we will send out this newsletter with information about the topic. It will also include a link to register (for free) for the discussion. Every Monday the same information will be posted on our website: fridaylunch.case.edu.
If you register, you will automatically receive from the Zoom system the link to join the meeting. This week’s link for registration is:
https://cwru.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAodeCtrz0pHdWkr2RuZxLe_WEyewXZ-i3J
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Please e-mail padg@case.edu if you have questions about how the Zoom version of the Friday Lunch will work or any other suggestions. Or call at 216 368-2426 and we’ll try to get back to you. We are very pleased to be partnering this semester with the Siegal Lifelong Learning Program to share information about the discussions.
Best wishes for safety and security for you and yours,
Joe White
Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy and Director, Center for Policy Studies
About Our Guest
Sharona Hoffman joined the faculty in 1999. She is the Edgar A. Hahn Professor of Law, Professor of Bioethics, and Co-Director of the Law School’s Law-Medicine Center. She teaches Health Law courses, Employment Discrimination, and Civil Procedure and was voted First Year Teacher of the Year in 2011, 2012, and 2019. She has won several other distinctions for her teaching and scholarship, including the 2014 Distinguished Teacher Award. Professor Hoffman served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 2006 until 2009.
Professor Hoffman received her B.A. from Wellesley College, her J.D. from Harvard Law School, an LL.M. in health law from the University of Houston, and an S.J.D. in health law from Case Western Reserve University. Prior to becoming an academic, Ms. Hoffman was a Senior Trial Attorney at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Houston, a litigation associate at O’Melveny & Myers in Los Angeles, and a judicial clerk for U.S. District Judge Douglas W. Hillman (Western District of Michigan).
Schedule of Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers:
February 11: What, if Anything, Have We Learned From Cybersecurity Regulation So Far? Wtih Tom Alrich, consultant on cybersecurity regulation especially for the electric power industry.
February 18: TBA
February 25: TBA
March 4: The Present and Future of Cryptocurrency. With Peter Zimmerman, Ph.D., Research Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
March 11: Spring Break
March 18: Inflation. With Mark Sniderman, Ph.D., Executive in Residence and Adjunct Professor of Economics, Weatherhead School of Management; former Executive Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
March 25: Covid-19 Through Covid-22: The More Things Change the More They Stay the Same? Wtih Mark Cameron, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences.
April 1: The French Presidential Election. Wtih Patrick Chamorel, Ph.D., Senior Resident Scholar and Lecturer, Stanford in Washington, Stanford University.
April 8: TBA
April 15: TBA
April 22: TBA |
