NLRB Focus on Employee Handbooks of Employers
7/17/15
By: Joyce M. Mocek Over the last several months, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has targeted employee handbooks and policies of both union and non-union employers, determining that their policies and procedures constitute “unfair labor practices.” The NLRB continues to expand its interpretations of the type of actions that constitute such practices, recently holding…
7/10/15
By: Chuck Reed, Jr. Last week, in Eshleman v. Key, 2015 WL 3936075 (June 29, 2015), the Georgia Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals’ denial of official immunity for an off-duty police officer whose police dog escaped from its kennel and bit a child. This reversal reaffirms that the presence or absence of specific…
5/20/15
By: Andy Treese and Charles Reed, Jr. Law enforcement and other government agencies have been given considerable power in confiscating and otherwise prohibiting the use of property owned, used or possessed by persons suspected of criminal activity. What happens to guns owned by a person who lawfully owned them until he was convicted of a…
5/20/15
By: Andy Treese and Charles Reed, Jr. When Congress codified citizens’ access to courts regardless of their ability to pay costs, federal courts quickly became inundated with prisoner lawsuits. Congress, in turn, enacted the “three strikes” provision in 28 U. S. C. §1915(g) which provides that “in no event shall a prisoner bring a civil…
5/20/15
By: Andy Treese and Charles Reed, Jr. This week the United States Supreme Court declined to rule on the issue of whether the Americans with Disabilities Act requires law enforcement officers to provide accommodations to an armed, violent, and mentally ill suspect in the course of bringing the suspect into custody. At the same time,…
Caps on Medical Malpractice Awards- How Much is Too much?
8/5/14
By: Taryn M. Kadar Monetary caps on medical malpractice awards are commonplace in many states throughout the country. In today’s highly litigious environment, these monetary caps help limit the exposure a doctor or hospital may have in a medical malpractice suit. While some states such as Florida and Georgia have declared non-economic caps on damages…
EEOC’s New Enforcement Guidance On Pregnancy Expands Interpretation of Existing Law
7/22/14
By: Amanda McCallum Cash After a 3-2 vote, on July 14, 2014, the EEOC issued its first Enforcement Guidance on pregnancy in over 30 years. While the new guidelines cover a number of pregnancy-related topics that all employers should consider, two hot topics in the recent Guidance are (1) light duty for pregnant employees and…
7/21/14
By: Michael Wolak, III The business judgment rule is an iconic fixture in American corporate jurisprudence reflecting a strong judicial reluctance to question the business judgments of directors and officers. In its classic form, the business judgment rule insulates a company’s directors and officers from liability for negligence in the discharge of their fiduciary duties…
New HIPAA Rule Brings Sweeping Changes
5/2/13
By: David Cole The wait is over. The new HIPAA omnibus rule that the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) issued in January officially took effect on March 22, 2013. The deadline for compliance with most provisions is 180 days later on September 23, 2013. This means that covered entities, business associates,…
Court of Appeals Breathes New Life into Joint and Several Liability in Georgia
4/4/13
By: Phil Savrin For many years, the rule in Georgia was that tortfeasors could be liable jointly and severally for bodily injury or death, without apportionment unless the plaintiff was found to be some part at fault. If a plaintiff was not partly at fault, then he could collect the entire judgment from any one…
3/7/13
By: Bill Buechner The Eleventh Circuit recently held in a case of first impression that a property management company is not a “debt collector” under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). In Harris v. Liberty Community Management, Inc., the property management company (Liberty) was designated in its contract with the homeowners association as the…
Georgia High Court to Revisit Scope of Official Immunity for State-Employed Physicians
3/7/13
By: Scott Rees and Michael Eshman The highest Court in Georgia recently heard oral argument in a medical malpractice case with implications for medical providers working in state-run facilities. The issue, generally, is: when are medical providers working in state-run facilities who treat private-pay patients entitled to “official immunity” from civil suit as state employees…