The seminar, which will be moderated by attorney Michael Fattorosi, will focus on issues surrounding safe working conditions on the set, with an emphasis on ways to keep all parties safe and secure without incurring the unwanted and unwarranted intervention of government agencies.
Other panelists will include director Ira Levine, performer Nina Hartley, industry attorney Jeffrey J. Douglas and Alan Stearns of Lockton Insurance Brokers.
A main topic of conversation will be the question of whether adult performers are considered by the government, most notably California state government, to be employees or independent contractors. It is an issue that dovetails seamlessly with the question of whether the majority of production studios even carry workers' compensation insurance.
Fattorosi emphasizes the mutual benefits of workers' compensation insurance.
"Safe practices are beneficial for both studios and performers,” he said. “The most important aspect to remember about workers' compensation is that it not only provides health care benefits for the performer in case of an injury, it also prevents the studio from being dragged into civil litigation and hit with punitive damages."
Stearns, who is currently working with the Free Speech Coalition to offer inexpensive insurance to industry members, will speak to the relatively low cost of workers’ compensation insurance as well as simple things studios can do to make the work place safer.
XBIZ Publisher Tom Hymes said that he hopes the seminar will attract a large audience.
“Honestly, I can think of few other issues facing adult content producers, performers and potentially distributors and retailers, that contains so many elements of risk,” Hymes said. “We’re talking about people’s health and safety first, but also their very ability to work, as well as the ability of companies to stay in business; and ultimately, in a worst case scenario, we are talking about the end of the adult industry in California as we know it.
“I wish I were exaggerating, but I just returned from Las Vegas, where a panel of seven of the most experienced attorneys in the business said pretty much the exact same thing,” Hymes added.
