Employee communication methods have undergone a dramatic makeover during the past five years — indeed, it sometimes seems, from month to month. Slack, a collaboration tool for workplaces, has been among the forces upending...more
Fear of COVID-19 was not a valid reason for walking off the job, according to the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania’s recent decision. Shortly after the lockdown orders were issued by Gov. Tom Wolf in March 2020, a Certified...more
As anyone who has worked in a customer-facing job can tell you, dealing with difficult customers often comes with the territory. However, when customer behavior crosses a line into illegal conduct like sexual harassment, both...more
Inaction in Face of Sexual Assault Allegation- A 20-year-old player in the Chicago Blackhawks organization, Kyle Beach, filed a lawsuit against the team in May 2021 alleging he was sexually assaulted by the team’s video...more
Illinois legislators have introduced new legislation that, if passed, could drastically alter the liabilities faced by employers and businesses to potential COVID-19 exposure claims. House Bill 3003, the “COVID-19...more
On February 25, 2021, Wisconsin enacted a new law designed to help reduce ambiguity regarding COVID-19-related liability. The statute (Wis. Stat. § 895.476), which became effective on February 27, 2021, gives certain...more
In addition to the familiar lawsuits that we have been seeing since the pandemic started this spring, there have been new developments with the Pennsylvania Legislature, the Supreme Court of the United States, a major sports...more
As Congress continues to discuss the next coronavirus (COVID-19) stimulus package, one bill in particular has become a flash point in the negotiations: the SAFE TO WORK Act, which would provide far-reaching liability...more
This 20th edition of Unprecedented, our weekly update on COVID-19-related litigation, finds both plaintiffs and defendants with reasons to celebrate. Insurance carriers avoided consolidation of coverage disputes in...more
The COVID-19 pandemic has created significant uncertainty for businesses across the country – but there is some good news for Louisiana employers and businesses. As offices, worksites, and other places of businesses reopen,...more
Pennsylvania employers understand and support unemployment compensation as a safety net for employees who lose their jobs through no fault of their own. What is frustrating for an employer, however, is financing unemployment...more
Former Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman is currently serving a 14-day sentence in federal prison for her involvement in a college admissions cheating scandal. In addition to her brief prison stay, Huffman was...more
In a recent decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit observed that under California law, there was an unresolved question as to whether a commercial general liability (“CGL”) insurance policy covers an...more
As a result of numerous security issues in this day and age, employers are looking into new technological ways to counteract security risks. One such way is the use of various types of employee biometric data to confirm the...more
The California Supreme Court answered the Ninth Circuit’s certified question in Liberty Surplus Insurance v. Ledesma & Meyer Construction. The court rephrased the question presented to it as: “When a third party sues an...more
By statute, California law holds that willful misconduct—where an insured intends to cause someone harm—is not insurable as a matter of public policy. For years, insurance companies have sought to expand this prohibition to...more
Roseanne Barr, known for her big mouth and abrasive humor, is no stranger to controversy. (I still cringe when I recall her rendition of the national anthem.) Unfortunately for her, and the more than 200 people who worked on...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In Nakai v. Friendship House Association of American Indians, Inc., the California Court of Appeal considered whether marital disputes that spill into the workplace trigger FEHA’s marital status protections...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Employer is caught by WHD investigator instructing its employees to lie during interviews, and provides falsified records, containing whited-out and edited time records, in order to conform to the Federal...more
May an employer fire an employee for lying about the reason for an absence? In a recent decision, the Connecticut Appellate Court said “yes.” Orlando Martinez worked for Polar Industries as a machine operator. He was...more
As a healthcare employer, it must be tempting to want to develop rigid workplace rules that will help newbie bosses reach conclusions almost automatically, especially where the best nurses or techs often become supervisors...more
The longstanding statutory definition of “willful misconduct” that would disqualify an unemployment insurance claimant has been “the deliberate and willful violation of a reasonable rule or policy of the employing unit,...more
When does an employee’s extramarital activity become his or her employer’s concern? Before the Ashley Madison breach, the answer might as well have been “[almost] never.” Since the Ashley Madison breach has a...more
In Salmon v Castlebeck Care (Teeside) Ltd & Anor UKEAT/0304/14, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) considered whether a successful appeal against a decision to dismiss needed to be communicated to the employee in order to...more
Some employers have a high threshold for tolerating abusive employees. Outbursts or confrontations that are grounds for automatic termination by one company may only prompt corrective action from another. A recent decision...more