Seyfarth Synopsis: To increase enforcement concerning workplace violence incidents, OSHA published a Standard Interpretation Letter concluding injuries resulting from workplace violence are recordable, even if the incident...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Biden Administration’s Fall 2022 Regulatory Agenda for DOL indicates the Agency’s intent to revise and expand its use of administrative subpoenas through an “interim final rule.” OSHA claims the purpose...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Governor Gavin Newsom has signed into law two sweeping pieces of legislation prohibiting certain products containing intentionally added perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in California...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: OSHA intends to restore an Obama-era requirement that employers submit OSHA 300 logs and OSHA 301 reports electronically, ostensibly to improve the Agency’s data and to potentially target employers with...more
Seyfarth Synopsis:OSHA recently announced a three-pronged approach to establish a heat illness enforcement initiative, pertaining to both indoor or outdoor work settings: an enforcement memorandum, a National Emphasis...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: By ignoring the terms of a settlement agreement it had with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”), a New Jersey roofing contractor now faces more than $600,000 in penalties after...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, has announced interim guidance for the Agency’s regional offices to “ensure that decisions about new or ongoing cleanup...more
4/16/2020
/ CERCLA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Environmental Violations ,
Force Majeure Clause ,
RCRA ,
Relief Measures ,
Superfund ,
Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)
The Illinois General Assembly passed SB 1557, revising the language of the Recreational Cannabis Law to reduce but not eliminate employer liabilities.
...more
11/22/2019
/ Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Cannabis Products ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Drug Testing ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Regulations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Marijuana ,
Pending Legislation ,
Recreational Use ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Workplace Safety
Seyfarth Synopsis: A railcar cleaning company and its executive officers were recently charged in a 22-count indictment with conspiracy, violating worker safety standards resulting in worker deaths, violating the Resource...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: OSHA may refuse to allow its compliance officers to testify in civil tort proceedings....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Occupational Safety & Health Review Commission (Review Commission) issued two orders this month — the first we have heard from the Review Commission since April 27, 2017. The orders followed, on...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: While employees who have recently taken leave may be terminated for legitimate reasons, establishing a non-retaliatory termination can be challenging. The timing of the termination alone can support...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Minnesota Supreme Court found that a job applicant need only prove that the employee’s interest in a 12-week maternity leave was the “substantial causative factor” that “actually motivated” the...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: A Texas federal court won’t decide the legality of OSHA’s rule regarding the “Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses” until after the July 1, 2017 deadline for employers to comply with the rule....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In a challenge brought by trade associations for the farm supply and fertilizer industries, the D.C. Circuit vacates OSHA memorandum narrowing the retail exemption from the PSM standard.
The U.S....more
10/24/2016
/ Chemicals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Exemptions ,
Farm Supplies ,
Farms ,
Hazardous Substances ,
Interpretive Rule ,
Notice and Comment ,
OSHA ,
Process Safety Management ,
Retail Sales ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Safety Standards ,
Trade Associations ,
Vacated
Seyfarth Synopsis: Industry has sued to block OSHA’s efforts to give unions increased access to non-union worksites.
We had blogged previously about OSHA’s new standard interpretation guidance letter that would allow...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: A new NLRB decision that attempts to define further the boundaries of protected speech under the NLRA.
In Laborers’ International Union of North America and Mantell, Case No. 03-CB-136940 (NLRB...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In this recent case a Federal Magistrate Judge finds that OSHA has gone too far in expanding an incident inspection into a wall-to-wall inspection.
A District Court Magistrate Judge recently...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: A couple of Circuit Court decisions last week may cause some trepidation for your company’s HR managers as they shuffle through the off-duty activities of company employees that get brought onto the...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Tenth Circuit held that a trucking company unlawfully retaliated against a truck driver after he abandoned a trailer on a public highway, finding that his actions constituted a protected refusal to...more
8/16/2016
/ Administrative Appeals ,
Administrative Procedure Act ,
Administrative Review Board ,
Appeals ,
Back Pay ,
Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Hiring & Firing ,
OSHA ,
Protected Activity ,
Public Safety ,
Reinstatement ,
Retaliation ,
Standard of Review ,
Surface Transportation Assistance Act (STAA) ,
Trucking Industry ,
Whistleblowers ,
Wrongful Termination
Seyfarth Synopsis: Companies cannot go to prison, but their executives and managers can when they violate the OSHA laws. And, companies can face stiff fines and other business-disrupting (or ending) collateral consequences...more
7/15/2016
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
OSHA ,
Popular ,
Restitution ,
Safety Equipment ,
Safety Training ,
Workplace Injury ,
Workplace Safety ,
Wrongful Death
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Eighth Circuit found that a class action could not be sustained in an environmental pollution case because “the class lacks the requisite commonality and cohesiveness to satisfy Rule 23.”...more
6/1/2016
/ Appeals ,
CERCLA ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Commonality ,
Contaminated Properties ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Environmental Liability ,
FRCP 23 ,
FRCP 23(b)(2) ,
FRCP 23(b)(3) ,
General Mills ,
Homeowners ,
Negligence ,
Private Nuisance ,
RCRA
The International Franchise Association (IFA) has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) asking for the rationale behind questions that its inspectors are...more
9/1/2015
/ Browning-Ferris Industries of California Inc. ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FOIA ,
Franchise Agreements ,
International Franchise Association (IFA) ,
Joint Employers ,
NLRB ,
OSHA ,
Popular ,
Statutory Authority