In January 2024, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) launched its REACH initiative designed to “enhance outreach to vulnerable workers and underserved communities.” The initiative was implemented by Commissioner Kalpana Kotagal for the purpose of ensuring EEOC’s outreach and education efforts reach workers who are less likely to seek the agency’s assistance. Through the…
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In American Automobile Insurance Company v. FDH Infrastructure Services., LLC, 364 So.3d 1082 (Fla. 3d DCA 2023), The Court of Appeals of Florida, Third District (“Court of Appeals”) held all construction-based claims against design professionals are subject to a four-year statute of limitations, not the two-year statute of limitations. Tower King II was contracted to…
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On January 9, 2024, the United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) released its final rule that revises the DOL’s determination of whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The final rule goes into effect on March 11, 2024. The new rule replaces the Trump Administration’s Independent…
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On January 11,2024, the EPA issued the final version of a new significant new use rule (SNUR) applying to 329 PFAS chemicals designated as inactive on the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) Chemical Substance Inventory (the “Inventory”). A number of PFAS chemicals are already subject to SNURs. This rule omits those to avoid redundancy. The…
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Expert testimony is an essential element of any claim of professional engineering malpractice. However, Munro v. Dep’t of Transportation, 890 S.E.2d 349 (Ga. App. 2023) demonstrates that a Georgia Rule of Evidence regarding expert testimony in professional malpractice cases can make proving design malpractice very difficult in some circumstances. On November 10, 2017, twenty-four-year-old Ashley…
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On Wednesday, January 10, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) approved the first U.S.-listed exchange traded funds (ETFs) to track bitcoin. The SEC approved 11 applications, including from BlackRock (BLK.N), Ark Investments/21Shares (ABTC.S), Fidelity, Invesco (IVZ.N) and VanEck. The approvals come a day after an unauthorized person published a fake post on the SEC’s…
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In 701 Palafox, LLC v. Scuba Shack, Inc., the Florida Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s granting of a motion to amend to add punitive damages, holding that the moving party failed to make the required evidentiary showing to support a claim of gross negligence to seek punitive damages. 367 So. 3d 624 (Fla….
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FINRA recently announced new sanctions filed against M1 Finance LLC, Open to the Public Investing, Inc., SoFi Securities LLC, and SogoTrade, Inc. for supervisory and advertising violations. The fines for these violations totaled $1.6 million. In addition to the substantial fine, FINRA also ordered the firms pay over $1 million in restitution. During its investigation,…
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In Rivas v. Purvis Holdings, LLC, the owner/general contractor of a 28-story building project was sued by an employee of a masonry contractor in an attempt to recover damages for injuries suffered at the construction site. 2023 WL 8440738. The trial court denied the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on the cause of action alleging…
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In Bonilla v. Verges Rome Architects, 2023 WL 3371559 (La. App. 5th Cir. 2023), the Louisiana Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that an architect could be liable to an injured worker for failing to address a known safety issue, despite contractual language establishing site safety as solely a contractor responsibility. The City of New…
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