On January 12, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that would require accessible medical diagnostic equipment...more
In the employment context, employers are required to consider whether an employee’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) request to bring a service animal or an emotional support animal (ESA) to work qualifies as a...more
On June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States revived an employee’s religious discrimination lawsuit, unanimously holding that to deny a sincere religious accommodation request under Title VII of the 1964 Civil...more
On May 1, 2023, the Biden administration announced that it would be ending all of its various COVID-19 vaccination requirements on May 11, 2023, the same date as the COVID-19 national emergency and public health emergency...more
On January 13, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States issued an opinion staying preliminary injunctions issued in cases filed in Missouri and Louisiana challenging the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS)...more
1/24/2022
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Compliance Dates ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Providers ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Hospitals ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Stays ,
Vaccinations
On December 7, 2021, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral argument on the cases challenging both the secretary of Health and Human Services’ interim final rule and the secretary of Labor’s emergency temporary...more
1/14/2022
/ Administrative Authority ,
Biden Administration ,
Biden v Missouri ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Lack of Authority ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Preemption ,
SCOTUS ,
Stays ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On Friday, January 7, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments on challenges to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard...more
1/10/2022
/ Case Consolidation ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Oral Argument ,
OSHA ,
Preemption ,
Regulatory Authority ,
SCOTUS ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
On December 15, 2021, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals stayed, in part, a nationwide preliminary injunction prohibiting the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) from enforcing its COVID-19 vaccination mandate...more
In a November 30, 2021, order, a federal judge sitting in Louisiana entered a nationwide preliminary injunction against the Biden administration’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) interim final rule entitled...more
12/2/2021
/ Appeals ,
Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Employer ,
Executive Orders ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Hospitals ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
OSHA ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Stays ,
Temporary Regulations
In a 32-page order issued on November 29, 2021, United States District Judge Matthew T. Schelp entered a preliminary injunction against the Biden administration’s Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) interim final...more
Many hospitals and other healthcare organizations started mandating COVID-19 vaccinations for some or all of their workers over the last six months. Now all of the specified Medicare and Medicaid-certified provider and...more
11/5/2021
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Employer ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hospitals ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
OSHA ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Vaccinations
Following in the footsteps of governors in states such as Alabama, Arkansas, and Texas, on October 28, 2021, Missouri Governor Mike Parson issued Executive Order 21-10, a measure intended to chip away at the reach of federal...more
11/1/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Branch ,
Executive Orders ,
Governor Parson ,
OIRA ,
OSHA ,
Public Agencies ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
State and Local Government ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Vaccinations ,
Vaccine Passports
On August 23, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted full approval to Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. Moderna’s expedited application for full approval is still pending, and Johnson & Johnson plans to submit its...more
8/24/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
FDA Approval ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Pfizer ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Vaccinations ,
Vaccine Passports
With transmission of the Delta variant on the rise, many employers are revisiting plans to implement COVID-19 vaccination policies. As we have previously explained, employers may encourage and mandate vaccination against...more
8/13/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Educational Institutions ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Masks ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
On June 15, 2021, Missouri Governor Mike Parson signed House Bill 271 prohibiting any county, city, town, or village government receiving public funds from requiring COVID-19 vaccination documents (commonly known as “vaccine...more
6/16/2021
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Disability ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Governor Parson ,
OSHA ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Exemption ,
State and Local Government ,
Vaccinations ,
Vaccine Passports
Many workplace leaders have been wondering, “Can we require employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of employment?” According to a recent Ogletree Deakins benchmarking survey, most employers are not ready to...more
6/15/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hospitals ,
New Guidance ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Vaccinations
On April 21, 2021, in a further push to encourage COVID-19 vaccinations for those individuals who have been hesitant, the White House issued a fact sheet titled, “President Biden to Call on All Employers to Provide Paid Time...more
On Tuesday, April 6, 2021, while touring a vaccination site in Alexandria, Virginia, President Joe Biden imposed a deadline on every state to open up vaccination eligibility to all adults by April 19, 2021 (moving up the...more
In the last two weeks, two drug manufacturers announced the results of late-stage trials for COVID-19 vaccines that show effective rates of 95 percent and 94.5 percent respectively. Another manufacturer also announced...more
By all accounts, the availability of a vaccine for COVID-19 is a matter of when, not if. According to the World Health Organization, as of August 25, 2020, 173 potential vaccines are currently being developed in labs across...more
9/8/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Title VII ,
Undue Hardship ,
Vaccinations
On July 14, 2020, Missouri Governor Mike Parson signed Senate Bill (SB) 644, increasing the potential penalties imposed on Missourians and visitors who attempt to pass off their pets as bona fide service dogs. While Missouri...more
On July 1, 2020, Missouri Governor Mike Parson signed Senate Bill (SB) 591, which modifies various provisions relating to civil actions. Notably, for Missouri employers, the bill modifies and restricts the way punitive...more
It should come as no surprise that the masking debate continues to heat up. In the past week, news outlets and social media platforms have been abuzz about face mask exemption cards....more
In 2015, long before COVID-19 emerged, a hospital disciplined and discharged a recruiter in its HR department who refused to obtain a hospital-required influenza vaccination or to don a mask at work as an alternative. In a...more
This month marks the 55th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This monumental legislation, which was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 2, 1964, changed the course of history with its sweeping ban...more
7/16/2019
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EEO-1 ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equal Pay ,
Labor Regulations ,
LGBTQ ,
New Legislation ,
Quorum ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Salary/Wage History ,
Service Animals ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
USCIS ,
Wage and Hour