Last summer, the United States Supreme Court decided Bostock v. Clayton County and held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it unlawful to discriminate against individuals for being homosexual or transgender. 140 S. Ct. 1731 (2020). The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently decided Olivarez v. T-Mobile USA, Inc., where…
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On June 10, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) published an Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) limited to employers in the healthcare section for COVID-19. OSHA has the authority to issue an ETS without utilizing the regular rulemaking process if it determines that (1) workers are exposed to grave danger from exposure to substances…
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On May 6, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced the withdrawal of the “Independent Contractor Rule”, which was established in the last days of the Trump Administration. This rule would have established a uniform standard for determining a worker’s status as an “independent contractor” under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The FLSA…
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On April 7, 2021, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals rendered its opinion in Gil v. Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc., reversing the trial court’s decision against Winn-Dixie, holding that websites are not places of public accommodation under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and an inaccessible website is not necessarily equal to the…
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In response to a directive from President Biden, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has issued guidance to state unemployment insurance agencies that expands the number of instances in which workers can be eligible for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (“PUA”). PUA is a federally funded unemployment expansion that was adopted under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and…
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On January 6, 2021, the US Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced its final rule clarifying the standard for employee versus independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The effective date of the final rule is March 8, 2021.The purpose of the new rule is to provide clarity to workers and employers by making it…
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The Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) recently issued emergency use authorizations for COVID-19 vaccines. As the vaccines become widely available, more employers will consider whether to mandate vaccinations for employees. While generally employers may mandate vaccinations, there are some additional considerations with the COVID-19 vaccine. A key consideration is the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”),…
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Throughout the past few months, COVID-19 cases have continued to rise causing several areas of concern for employers across the nation. On November 18, 2020, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (“Cal OSHA”) proposed emergency regulations containing new workplace protocols that provide employers with more comprehensive guidelines to adequately enforce or modify existing…
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Across the nation, COVID-19 cases continue to rise and so have COVID-related complaints to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”). OSHA has initiated over 1,000 investigations related to COVID, and as of October 22, 2020, OSHA had issued just under 150 COVID-related citations. OSHA has not developed standards specific to COVID-related concerns. Instead, it…
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President Trump recently signed Executive Order 13950, Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping (the “EO”), which seeks to “combat offensive and anti-American race and sex stereotyping and scapegoating,” and end “divisive concepts” covered in some of these workplace trainings. The EO establishes requirements aimed at “promoting unity in the Federal workforce,” by prohibiting messages in workplace…
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