It is a truism that law often lags technology. Near the end of the U.S. Supreme Court’s past term, the court issued a decision in which the majority opinion, by Justice Anthony Kennedy, recognized the importance of social media in most people’s lives. The ramifications of the court’s statements about social media, in Packingham v.

Claims Administrator Did Not Wrongly Deny Benefits to Ex-Employee, Seventh Circuit Rules

The plaintiff in this case was hired by General Motors as an electrical engineer in 1991. A year later, General Motors circulated a “summary plan description” detailing the disability benefits available to its employees. This document provided that employees who became disabled before accruing

Agreement That Settled Arbitrations Also Barred Former Employee’s ERISA Action, Ninth Circuit Says

In December 2010, the plaintiff in this case, a physician, filed wrongful termination lawsuits against Kaiser Foundation Hospitals (Kaiser) and The Permanente Medical Group, Inc. (TPMG). Both of those lawsuits were consolidated in arbitration. The plaintiff, Kaiser, and TPMG settled those arbitrations in

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has recently held that notice to an employee that she will be terminated is sufficient to form the basis of a Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”) and Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) claim against the employer even if

On June 22, 2017, a New York appeals court took aim at Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Executive Order No. 38. The executive order and the accompanying Department of Health (“DOH”) regulations have been the subject of controversy and appeal since their 2012 debut.

The New York State Appellate Division, Third Department, in Leadingage N.Y., Inc. v.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) recently entered into a settlement with AnMed Health (“AnMed”), a South Carolina hospital, for over $1.2 million for a violation of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (“EMTALA”). The settlement serves as an important reminder and clarification on the obligations imposed

We bring you our Insurance Update for August.

We lead off this month’s issue with a cybercrime case decided by a Michigan federal district court. The case arises out of a spoof email and the issue is whether the loss was directly caused by the use of a computer. A handful of cases involving similar

No Additional Insured Coverage Where Alleged Accident Occurred Off Leased Space

An employee of Linea 3 allegedly was injured in the parking lot while walking from his car to space Linea leased in a building owned by Atlantic Ave. Sixteen AD, Inc. The employee sued Atlantic, which sought additional insured coverage under Linea’s policy. The

Nancy Del Pizzo’s article, “Minimizing Legal Risks When Using the Word ‘Organic’,” appeared in the July/August issue of Nutrition Industry Executive.

The article details the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s requirements for the use of the word “organic” as well as what is considered false and misleading advertising for organic products.

To read the article, click

Stuart Gordon and Matthew Spero’s article, “Supreme Court Rejects ‘Structured Dismissals.’ Now What?”, appeared in the July/August issue of Pratt’s Journal of Bankruptcy Law.

To read the article, click here.

As we previously reported (June 6, 2017), beginning January 1, 2018, private sector employees in New York State who meet the minimum employment-duration requirements will be eligible for paid family leave under New York’s Paid Family Leave (“PFL”) law. The PFL program will be funded by employees via mandatory payroll deductions – tacked onto existing

The New York Court of Appeals recently heard arguments in the Myers v. Schneiderman lawsuit, which challenges the legality of physician assisted suicide and whether a patient should have the right to choose a peaceful death on his or her own terms. As the law currently stands, New York Penal Law Section 125.15 prohibits physician-assisted

Today the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Issued a new version of the Form I-9, which employers must use to document their efforts to verify the identity and employment eligibility of its employees. The new version of the Form I-9 can be found here https://www.uscis.gov/i-9.

Employers must begin using the new version of the

Our July Insurance Update features three cases from state high courts.

• The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, on certified question from the First Circuit, addresses whether the duty to defend (or pay defense costs) includes the costs to prosecute the insured’s counterclaims.
• The Texas Supreme Court considers whether the underlying proceeding was sufficiently adversarial when

The Trump Administration created new uncertainty in a recent Court filing by declaring its intentions to rewrite an Obama-era regulation designed to dramatically expand the number of workers covered by federal overtime rules. Employers have been left in limbo since last November when a federal district court issued a preliminary injunction that prevented the U.S.