Mr. Rittof is the President and CEO of Modern Management, Inc. and an employee relations consultant His proactive approach to employee relations has roots in a broad spectrum of activities including organizational re-design studies, employee opinion surveys, communication audits, and labor relations seminars. As President/CEO, he leads a team of dedicated professionals in helping executives, managers, and supervisors face the challenges of the future. A graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Mr. Rittof holds a B.A. and M.A. in Organizational Communication. He has taught at the university level and is co-author of Quality Circles, a textbook utilized by several universities and businesses. Since joining the firm over 33 years ago, he has consulted in virtually all aspects of employee relations. His experience encompasses healthcare, manufacturing, gaming, hospitality, banking, services, insurance, and government. A few of Mr. Rittof’s many accomplishments include successfully assisting numerous organizations in maintaining non-union status; providing preventive management training programs regarding the union campaign process; developing identification and action planning processes for responding to employee morale issues; and implementing communication plans for organizations in transition. He has also provided coaching and guidance for executives wishing to improve their public speaking skills and frequently facilitated executive retreats for strategic planning and team building.

Two themes are woven throughout Lauraine Bifulco's diverse career: a passion for a job well done and a zest for continual learning and improvement.  Lauraine infuses Vantaggio HR with these qualities every day. When she founded the firm in 1994, Lauraine combined her rare talent in understanding what a client needs and her gift of business foresight to create a company that can service the HR and management consulting needs of small and large companies equally well.  Today, Vantaggio serves clients across the country from their offices in California, Hawaii, Colorado, and New York. 

Her Career experience helps employers realize their HR goals and adapt to the shifting HR landscape.  Lauraine is a veteran HR executive and entrepreneur with 25 years of international, corporate, and consulting experience. Her bold career has taken her to employment and business opportunities in Europe and multiple U.S. cities. She serves as co-chair of the California Small Business Administration's committee on Labor Issues which reviews and makes recommendations on pending labor/employment laws, keeping her abreast of legal developments.                                                                            

Delivering over 30 presentations and webinars each year, Lauraine is a well-respected, and highly sought after guest lecturer and speaker on a variety of business management and HR-related topics for both state and national organizations including Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Professionals in Human Resources Association (PIHRA), American Payroll Association (APA), Next Concept HR Association (NCHRA), Paylocity annual Elevate Conference, and HR Star Conference to name a few. She has been invited to review, develop, and deliver certificate programs for SHRM, and has developed and delivered curriculum for businesses throughout the U.S.                                                                   

Lauraine received a bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College and conducted graduate level studies in linguistics at the Sorbonne in Paris.

David Lindgren is a Senior Manager with Flexible Benefit Service Corporation (Flex), a fullservice wholesale insurance firm and administrator of tax-advantaged benefit plans based in Rosemont, Illinois. David oversees the Compliance and Public Affairs departments at Flex and brings fifteen years of experience to his role.

He is a subject matter expert in the areas of ERISA, HIPAA, Cafeteria Plans, Healthcare Reform and various Employee Benefit Programs, including consumer-driven plans that incorporate Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs), Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and wellness programs.

Steven is the human resources coordinator at the Health & Hospital Corporation of Marion County (Indianapolis, Indiana).  His experience includes all areas of human resources, with specific focus on compliance, employee relations and training and development.  He holds an MBA from Western Governors University and a bachelor’s degree in theatre from Indiana State University.  His experience ranges from human resources positions in healthcare and manufacturing companies to directing and producing theatrical productions.  Perhaps most surprisingly, the skills used to direct plays and musicals transfer very well to human resources.  Investigating and advising on employee matters and corralling actors are remarkably comparable – following policies or following scripts, doing them the right way builds an efficient workforce and gets a standing ovation!

Avalyn C. Langemeier, a Partner with Foster LLP's Houston office, graduated cum laude from Harvard University and the University of Texas at Austin Law School. She handles a wide variety of employment and compliance-based immigration matters. Her practice includes assisting public and private employers in the management of immigration processes for key personnel. Ms. Langemeier works closely with employers in the healthcare industry, academia and oil industry to prepare and file the necessary petitions and applications on behalf of physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, professors, researchers, administrators and professionals. She also works with religious workers. Ms. Langemeier assists in filing for work visas and for permanent residence based on PERM labor certification applications (basic, special and hybrid) and petitions based on extraordinary ability, being an outstanding researcher or professor or international manager, and national interest waiver petitions. She provides clients her expertise in connection with Form 1-9 audits, workforce compliance, J-1waivers, and H-1B site visits. Ms. Langemeier is a member of the State Bar of Texas, the State Bar of California, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, and the Court of Appeals for the Fifth and Ninth  Circuits. Ms. Langemeier is also a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, serves on the AILA Health Care Professionals Committee, and continues to serve and has served as liaison for the American Immigration Council's Creative Writing Contest for Fifth Graders for several years. She is an invited member of the International Who's Who of Corporate Immigration Lawyers and was nominated for Best Lawyer in Immigration Law. Ms. Langemeier is a frequent speaker on immigration matters, including having spoken at conferences hosted by the Texas State Bar, the AILA Texas Chapter and AILA National, the National Association of Foreign Student Advisors (NAFSA), and universities and healthcare organizations.

James J. McDonald, Jr. is a partner in the Irvine, California and Tampa, Florida offices of Fisher & Phillips LLP, where he is a litigator, trial lawyer and strategic advisor to employers regarding labor and employment law matters.  He is author of the SHRM-published book, California Employment Law: An Employer’s Guide, and he is a frequent speaker on employment law issues.  He is a cum laude law graduate of Georgetown University and a member of the California and Florida Bars, and he holds the SHRM-SCP certification.

 

 

Steve Fussell is Executive Vice President, Human Resources. He has led Human Resources at Abbott since 2005. Mr. Fussell joined Abbott in 1996, as Divisional Vice President, Compensation and Benefits. He was promoted to Vice President, Compensation and Development in 1999, and to Senior Vice President, Human Resources in 2005. Prior to Abbott, he held human resources leadership positions at Nestle and Shell.  Steve believes that human resources professionals are stewards of a company's most valuable resource, its people.  In the world's most successful and enduring companies, HR helps a company's leaders find and develop talent, align human capital around important business priorities, and celebrate and sustain a company's achievements.

Gregg is a 25 year veteran of the adidas Group.  The global organization of the company consists of 12 markets, doing business in over 190 countries through subsidiaries and joint ventures.  They have 46,000 employees worldwide, and approximately 70% of these employees are in the Commercial segment of the company.  

Gregg is a Global HR Professional with HR leadership experience on three continents, having lived and worked in the US, Europe and Asia.  Currently, he is Sr. Vice President of Human Resources – Commercial, based at Headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany.  He leads a global department that provides comprehensive HR Business Partner Support to the adidas and Reebok Brands, plus the three (3) global Sales Channels - Wholesale, Retail, eCommerce - supporting the full range of employees from CSO’s and CMO’s to Retail Shop Staff. 

Gregg joined the adidas Group in the United States in 1988 as Manager of Distribution and Logistics.  In 1990, he became Director of Human Resources for adidas America and held this role until his move to the HQ in 1998. 

Prior to adidas, Gregg held Human Resources and Operations Management roles with a US-based Textile manufacturing company. 

Gregg is a 1979 graduate of Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina.  He holds a Global Professional Human Resources (GPHR) certification from the Human Resources Certification Institute and is a frequent speaker on Leadership, Motivation, Employee Engagement and other HR-related topics.

William D. Wight is a partner in the Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. offices and is the chair of the firm's International Employment Practice Group.  He counsels employers on various global employment, compensation and benefit issues related to employees abroad, as well as foreign nationals working in the U.S. and the employment of the U.S. permanent residents and citizens abroad.  Bill has worked with compliance issues related to hiring, retention and separation of employees in a multitude of jurisdictions.  His experience with global employment issues has helped him assist our clients with international operations on all sevel continents including Antarctica.  Bill has assisted clients with the implementation of strategic planning and policy development with respect to global HR practices and policies.  He has also assisted clients with the management of litigation and employment controversy matters in numerous international jurisdictions.  Bill has also counseled clients based outside the United States with the special considerations that are required when complying with U.S. employment and employee benefit rules and regulations. Bill is regularly involved with resolving questions related to privacy and data protection issues.  

David W. Ellis is internationally recognized in the area of executive compensation, employee benefits and pension funds. He is exceptionally fluent in international executive mobility, particularly in the design and taxation of compensation payable to expatriates, inpatriates and globally mobile employees. Mr. Ellis is immediate past chair of Baker & McKenzie, LLP’s Global Employment Practice Group.

Mr. Ellis represents and advises management on all aspects of employee benefits and executive compensation locally and internationally. He advises multinational companies on tax, labor, securities and data privacy aspects of equity compensation programs and management participation programs. He also advises both buyers and sellers on US and non-US labor and pension funding issues that arise in cross-border transaction.