Is Georgia Game for Growing Bad Faith Liability?
7/17/18
By: Jessica Samford
As discussed in my last blog on bad faith, seeking bifurcation can be a proactive means to distinguish the issue of coverage from the issue of bad faith and appropriately manage the all too often unwieldy …
California Passes New Comprehensive Data Privacy Law
7/16/18
By: Kacie Manisco
California has passed a sweeping data privacy law that will result in dramatic changes to how businesses in the state handle consumer data. AB 375, which will take effect on January 1, 2020, grants consumers more control …
A Contradiction In Terms – Recent Developments On 3rd Party Placement Of STEM Opt Students
7/13/18
By: Kenneth Levine
In April 2018, USCIS issued official guidance that precluded the assigning of a U.S. employer’s STEM OPT employees to off-site third-party locations. A STEM OPT employee is a foreign national who is pursing “practical training” through a …
California Appellate Court Concludes That Employer Lawfully Rounded Employee Time Up and Down
7/12/18
By: Laura Flynn
The Second District of the California Court of Appeal has ruled that calculating payroll by automatically rounding workers’ hours either up or down to the nearest quarter-hour is legal as long as it does not result in …
California’s New Independent Contractor Test
7/11/18
By: Christine Lee
On April 30, 2018, the California Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court, No. S222732, in which the Court adopted an extremely broad view of workers who will be …
New Potential SCOTUS Justice: Friend or Foe of Qualified Immunity?
7/10/18
By: Sara Brochstein
President Trump announced his decision to nominate Judge Brett Kavanaugh to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement. Should he be confirmed, Judge Kavanaugh could have significant impact on the preservation of qualified …
Is An Employee’s Intentional Act An Employer’s “Accident”?
7/10/18
By: Rebecca Smith and Zach Moura
It may just be, according to the California Supreme Court’s recent decision in Liberty Surplus Ins. Corp. v. Ledesma & Meyer Construction Co., Inc. (June 4, 2018, No. S236765). In Liberty v. Ledesma, …
Georgia Employers Must Become Familiar With State’s New Paid Leave Law
7/9/18
By: Will Collins
Across the country, there are an increasing number of state laws requiring that employers provide paid sick leave, including paid leave for the care of a family member. For instance, under the Georgia Family Care Act, …
To Shoot or Not to Shoot – The Ninth Circuit Says That Is The Question (for the jury)
7/6/18
By: Owen Rooney
On June 25, 2018 the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in Estate of Lopez v. Gelhaus, arising out of the shooting in Sonoma County, California of a 13 year old who was holding a toy AK-47 …
Supreme Court Ends Compulsory Union Payments for Government Employees – So What’s Next?
7/5/18
By: Brad Adler & Matt Weiss
On Wednesday June 27, the United States Supreme Court reached a landmark 5-4 decision in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Council 31 wherein it ruled that the Constitution’s First …
Pass That Dutch: California Insurers Respond to Budding Cannabis Industry
7/2/18
By: Kristin Ingulsrud
California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones announced on June 4, 2018 his approval of the Cannabis Business Owners Policy (CannaBOP) in California. The new CannaBOP program was designed for cannabis dispensaries, storage facilities, processors, manufacturers, distributors, and other …
Cyberrisks to Contractors and Securing Proper Coverage
6/29/18
By: Barry Brownstein
Increasingly sophisticated hackers have targeted personal and business data held by companies like Target Corp., Sony Corp., Equifax Inc. and Yahoo Inc. during the past decade. The construction industry is just as susceptible …