The EEOC has tapped a Philadelphia law firm partner to be part of a 16-member national task force charged with studying workplace harassment.

Duane Morris partner Jonathan Segal was named Monday to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace. Segal also heads the Duane Morris Institute, which provides training for human resource professionals, in-house counsel, benefits administrators and managers on the topics of employment, labor, benefits and immigration.

The EEOC announced the formation of the task force in January and named its members today. The commission said harassment claims comprise 30 percent of the charges received by the EEOC. The goal of the task force is to study the challenges faced by employers and employees and help spread best practices.

"Harassment is a major problem in the American workplace," Segal said in a statement. "I hope to bring my 25-plus years' experience helping companies prevent and correct harassment to the task force."

The task force will be co-chaired by EEOC Commissioners Chai R. Feldblum and Victoria A. Lipnic.

The other members of the task force are:

• Sahar F. Aziz, associate professor of law at Texas A&M University School of Law.
• Meg A. Bond, professor of psychology and director of the Center for Women and Work at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.
• Jerry Carbo, associate professor of management and marketing at Shippensburg University.
• Manuel Cuevas-Trisan, vice president of litigation, data protection and employment law at Motorola Solutions Inc.
• Frank Dobbin, professor of sociology at Harvard University.
• Stephen C. Dwyer, general counsel of American Staffing Association.
• Brenda Feis, partner at Feis Goldy.
• Fatima Goss Graves, vice president for education and employment at the National Women's Law Center.
• Ariane Hegewisch, study director at the Institute for Women's Policy Research.
• Christopher Ho, senior staff attorney and director of the Immigration and National Origin Program of the Legal Aid Society's Employment Law Center.
• Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
• Joseph M. Sellers, partner at Cohen Milstein.
• Angelia Wade Stubbs, associate general counsel of the AFL-CIO.
• Rae T. Vann, general counsel of the Equal Employment Advisory Council.
• Patricia A. Wise, partner and Niehaus Wise and Kalas and co-chair of the Society for Human Resource Management Labor Relations Special Expertise Panel.

Reprinted with permission from The Legal Intelligencer, © ALM Media Properties LLC. All rights reserved.