As explained in greater detail by our colleague Stuart M. Gerson, the Supreme Court of the United States handed down two major, and quickly decided, rulings on January 13, 2022. After hearing oral arguments only six days earlier, the Court issued two unsigned decisions per curiam. A 5-4 decision in Biden v. Missouri dissolved a preliminary injunction against enforcement of an interim final rule (“Rule”) promulgated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), requiring recipients of federal Medicare and Medicaid funding to ensure that their employees are vaccinated against COVID-19.
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared that the 2019 novel coronavirus (known as “COVID-19”) is now a pandemic. The effects continue to be felt in the United States, which currently has well over 1,000 cases of COVID-19. As of March 12, 2020, 19 states have declared a state of emergency to ensure there are resources to address the coronavirus, and President Trump has announced a ban on travel to and from Europe for 30 days starting on Friday, March 13, 2020, which was extended to the United Kingdom and Ireland on March 15th. Additionally, on March 13, 2020 President ...
On June 5, 2019, Governor Steve Sisolak of Nevada signed AB 132 (the “Law”), which prohibits employers from declining to hire a prospective employee based on pre-employment marijuana drug tests. On the heels of a new New York City law which prohibits employers from requiring pre-employment drug testing for marijuana and tetrahydrocannabinols (the active ingredient in marijuana), Nevada is now the first state to prohibit employers from using pre-employment drug tests to screen out applicants who use marijuana.
Under the Law, beginning January 1, 2020, employers in Nevada ...
As we previously reported, on April 9, 2019, the New York City Council passed Int. 1445-A, which prohibits employers from pre-employment drug testing for marijuana and tetrahydrocannabinols (“THC,” the active ingredient in marijuana). On May 10, 2019, Int. 1445-A became law by operation of the New York City legislative process, which automatically made the bill law after 30 days without action by Mayor de Blasio. The law becomes effective May 10, 2020, giving New York City employers one year to prepare.
Under the law, employers, labor organizations, and employment agencies ...
When: Thursday, October 15, 2015 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Where: New York Hilton Midtown, 1335 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019
This year, Epstein Becker Green’s Annual Workforce Management Briefing focuses on the latest developments that impact employers nationwide, featuring senior officials from the U.S. Department of Labor and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. We will also take a close look at the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act and its growing impact on the workplace.
In addition, we are excited to welcome our keynote speaker ...
On January 5, 2015, less than one month after the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) voted to adopt a Final Rule to amend its rules and procedures for representation elections, a lawsuit has been filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, asserting that the Board exceeded its authority under the National Labor Relations Act (Act) when it amended its rules for votes on union representation and that the new rule in unconstitutional and violates the First and Fifth Amendments of the US Constitution.
The suit was filed by the Chamber of Commerce of the United ...
The Ebola virus disease (“Ebola”) has become a worldwide threat, which, among many other effects, has forced employers to think about how to protect their employees. Employers also must consider how Ebola might impact employment policies and procedures, including, but not limited to, those addressing attendance, leaves of absence, discipline, and medical testing.
My colleagues and I have written a detailed Act Now advisory providing legal framework of best practices and legal risks pertaining to Ebola.
Click here to read the advisory in its entirety.
By: Adam C. Abrahms, Kara M. Maciel, Steven M. Swirsky, and Mark M. Trapp
The U.S. Supreme Court today held that the US Senate was not in recess on January 4, 2012, when President Obama made three “recess” appointments to the National Labor Relations Board under the Constitution’s Recess Appointment Clause. In simple terms that means that the recess appointments were not proper and decisions in which the recess appointees participated were not valid.
What this now means is that hundreds of cases decided by the NLRB following the January 4, 2012 recess appointments to the Board ...
On July 30th the Senate confirmed career union lawyer Kent Hirozawa (D) and retired AFL-CIO Associate General Counsel Nancy Schiffer (D) as well as seasoned management labor lawyers Philip Miscimarra (R) and Harry Johnson (R) to serve on the National Labor Relations Board. The Senate also confirmed current NLRB Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce (D).
The confirmations are of course the result of the Senate Republicans backing down in the face of the threat by Senate Democrats to change Senate rules so that they could force a vote, up or down, on President Obama’s nominations for the Board ...
by: Steven M. Swirsky and D. Martin Stanberry
An NLRB Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) has found that two computer usage policies of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (“UPMC”) violated the National Labor Relations Act (“Act”) because they had an unreasonable tendency to chill employee activities, including union organizing and employee discussions about terms and conditions of employment, protected by Section 7 of the Act.
The policies at issue prohibited employees from using the employer’s email and other electronic messaging systems “in a way that ...
by: James S. Frank, Steven M. Swirsky, and D. Martin Stanberry
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Wednesday February 27th, in NLRB v. Special Touch Home Care Servs. Inc., 11-3147 (2d.Cir., Feb. 27, 2013) (PDF) that the NLRB erred when finding that 48 home health aides were protected by the National Labor Relations Act (“Act”) when they participated in a strike after affirmatively telling their employer that they would be present for their shifts at their respective patients’ homes during the week of the strike.
While the NLRB had held that the workers actions were ...
by: Adam C. Abrahms, Kara M. Maciel, Evan J. Spelfogel and Steven M. Swirsky
In a time when employers do not receive much good news out of Washington D.C., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit may have given some very welcome relief to employers facing issues before the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “the Board”) in light of recent precedent reversing NLRB decisions. Quoting from early Constitutional authority including The Federalist Papers and Marbury v. Madison, the D.C. Circuit ruled today that President Obama’s “Recess Appointments” of three ...
Recent Updates
- The Battle Continues: No Appointments Clause Problem, BUT Eleventh Circuit Directs District Court to Consider Whether False Claims Act Qui Tam Provisions Violate Take Care, Vesting Clauses
- Bill Gates Gazes into the AI Crystal Ball: What are the Implications on the Healthcare and Life Sciences Industry
- 250+ Health Care Entities Targeted by HHS, DOJ Over Gender-Affirming Care for Minors
- Exclusion Authority (It’s Not Just the HHS-OIG Anymore …)
- The Sixth Circuit Revives the Medicare Waiver of Liability for Overpayments and Appeals