#WorkforceWednesday: OSHA Issues COVID-19 Citations, Michigan Enacts Liability Shield, and States Battle for Telecommuter Taxes - Employment Law This Week®
Even the most experienced employers are sure to have questions from time to time about the nation’s workplace safety agency – the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). That’s where we come in. The Fisher...more
Workers’ Compensation law is a double-edged sword. While employers cannot avoid Comp liability based on the employee’s negligent behavior, the injured employee cannot sue the employer outside of the Comp system for damages...more
On January 31, 2022, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held in Doe v. Scalia that once the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has completed enforcement proceedings, an employee may not...more
On June 15, 2022, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued a decision limiting the reach of the emergency response provisions of 29 C.F.R. § 1910.120, the Occupational Safety and Health...more
A recent decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held a Texas highway contractor liable for its supervisor’s involvement in a subordinate employee’s violation of workplace safety rules. See...more
Every employer understands the importance of actively ensuring employee safety and compliance with Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) standards, but a recent federal appeals court decision provides additional...more
In Sargent v. Board of Trustees of the California State University, the California Court of Appeal highlighted an important distinction between Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) claims asserted against a public entity...more
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s multiemployer worksite doctrine, a company can be cited for safety violations that it did not create and for hazards to which its own employees were never exposed. The...more
Many will recall the 2018 national outbreak of E. coli bacteria linked to romaine lettuce. In April that year, an Ohio franchisor ordered its restaurants to stop serving romaine lettuce and dispose of any remaining romaine...more
Under California law, receivers can be appointed for many purposes. Sometimes a “general equity” receiver is appointed to take control of a business entity and its assets where the decision-makers are deadlocked in...more
In recent years, a number of federal appellant courts, including the Fourth Circuit, have issued opinions finding that a single use of a racial slur can be enough to constitute a hostile and offensive working environment...more
In California, lien priority is usually resolved by a straightforward examination of the time of creation or recordation with the County Recorder, which gives “constructive notice” of the lien to the world. But some liens...more
The year 2018 saw the issuance of several noteworthy federal workplace safety and health decisions. Three of those decisions came in the cases of Secretary of Labor v. Angelica Textile Services, Inc.; United States v. Mar-Jac...more
On November 26, 2018, the Fifth Circuit released its opinion in Acosta v. Hensel Phelps Construction Co., which held that despite prior rulings to the contrary, OSHA is authorized to issue citations against contractors for...more
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, companies are responsible for preventing their employees from being exposed to safety violations. For years, OSHA has also asserted that a company can be held responsible for...more
In a significant victory for employers, a federal appeals court recently limited OSHA’s ability to expand accident investigations beyond their original and intended scope. The 11th Circuit’s decision in United States v....more
On October 9, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit upheld a district court’s order quashing an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspection warrant. OSHA unsuccessfully...more
Under California’s State Housing Law (Health and Safety Code sections 17910-17998.3), if an apartment building owner fails to comply with a notice to repair or abate building standard violations issued by an enforcement...more
On July 17, 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed a verdict that had found an employer criminally liable for an employee's fatal fall. ...more
The federal agency that reviews OSHA safety violation cases, also known as the OSH Review Commission, recently adopted the decision of one of its Administrative Law Judges who applied 5th Circuit precedent to reject a safety...more
On February 1, 2017, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed the decision of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (“Commission”) which imposed serious willful citations under the...more
In Downey v. Chutehall Construction Co. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-001-16), the Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled a contractor can be liable for violating building codes despite the fact that the party suing it directed the...more
The North Carolina Court of Appeals reversed a trial court decision, rendered in the wake of a bench trial (i.e., tried without a jury), wherein the trial court held that a residential landlord violated the North Carolina...more