EEOC Updates COVID-19 Workplace Testing Rules: What Employers Need to Know
8/9/22
By: Tia Combs On July 12, 2022, the EEOC updated its “What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws: Technical Assistance Questions and Answers” by updating its guidance on when employers can routinely test employees for COVID-19 in the workplace without running afoul of the Americans with…
Maine Healthcare Workers Challenging Vaccine Mandate Cannot Proceed Under Pseudonyms
8/8/22
By: Maria Alexander and Tara Sheldon The healthcare workers challenging the constitutionality of Maine’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate can no longer litigate their claims anonymously after the First Circuit Court of Appeals found that they failed to demonstrate a reasonable fear of harm to justify proceeding under pseudonyms. Maine’s Center for Disease Control promulgated a regulation…
Music shutdown: Georgia gun laws shoot down Music Midtown Festival
8/5/22
By: Marissa Dunn The annual Music Midtown music festival marks the end of summer for Atlantans. People come from all over to hear lineups that have included Post Malone, Kendrick Lamar, Mumford & Sons, Bruno Mars, and more. At its peak over 300,000 people were in attendance, and the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported that the festival…
Cyber insurance experiencing ‘Future Shock’
8/4/22
By: Barry M. Miller and Elisabeth Gentile The idea of “Future Shock”—that an accelerated pace of change causes social and psychological disruptions—dates from Alvin Toffler’s 1970 book of the same name. As it copes with the mutable nature of cyber risks, the Insurance industry is experiencing such a shock. Insurers who write cyber liability policies…
7/29/22
By: R. Victoria Fuller and Sean Andrés Rapela On July 27, 2022, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court of (“SJC”) held that food delivery app drivers do not fall within the narrow category of employees who are exempt from arbitration under § 1 of the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) because they are “engaged in foreign or…
7/28/22
By: Patrick Cosgrove and Kayla Panek Pennsylvania has long been an outlier amongst jurisdictions in holding that clients cannot sue their attorney for legal malpractice after voluntarily agreeing to a settlement. A recent concurring opinion by a Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice in Khalil v. Williams, et al. (July 20, 2022) suggests that it is only a…
New York’s New Sexual Harassment Hotline Could Lead To A Surge In Claims For Employers
7/26/22
By: Kaitlyn Grajek New York employers should brace for a prospective uptick in sexual harassment claims as a statewide toll-free confidential hotline became active on July 14, 2022. According to a Press Release by the New York State Senate Democratic Majority, the legislation establishing the hotline was enacted to “ensure all employees in both the…
7/21/22
By: Alexia Roney Due to countless police procedurals, the American public can recite from heart the Miranda warning – that a suspect has the right to remain silent, that anything they says can be used against them in a court of law, that they have the right to an attorney, and if they cannot afford…
7/20/22
By: Nancy Reimer and Matthew Mattie On July 5, 2022, a U.S. District Court Judge upheld an order requiring a major law firm to produce documents related to its communications with a Philadelphia-based casino showing conflicting client representation between two competitors. Pace-O-Matic (POM), a Georgia-based gaming company that does significant business in the state of…
7/19/22
By: Ryan Giggi Liability insurance policies do not cover G.L. c. 93A attorney’s fees in Massachusetts after a recent decision from the state’s highest court. Vermont Mutual Insurance Company v. Paul Poirier et al, (July 6, 2022) rests on conceptual differences between damages and attorney’s fees awarded under G.L. c. 93A, § 9(4). Massachusetts’s Supreme…
7/18/22
By: Alec D. Tyra On June 30, 2022, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in West Virginia v. EPA, invalidating the 2015 Clean Power Plan (CPP). Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the opinion of the court, holding that Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act does not authorize EPA to devise emissions caps based on…
Managing Construction Claims Risk In The Age Of Gen Z and The Great Resignation
7/15/22
By: Tim Soefje Construction and design professional firms that ignore how to effectively manage their workforce during this Great Resignation and post-Covid remote-work era will likely experience a significant increase in professional liability and construction defect claims. In late 2021, the nation’s “quit rate” reached a 20-year high and hasn’t really slowed down. Surprisingly, some…