Alert
Published 09/25/2020
By Joshua W.B. Richards, Carolyn Toll
Industries Higher Education
Earlier this month, Princeton’s President sent a letter to the Princeton community to outline the University’s next steps to “address systemic racism at Princeton and beyond.” President Eisgruber showed his support for anti-racism and justice for the recent police killings of Black individuals, writing that “[t]his outrageous and awful violence has revealed yet again, and with searing intensity, the long, painful, and ongoing existence of anti-Black racism in America.” Eisgruber added that “[r]acial justice demands the attention of this University” and we must find ways “to bear against...
Article
Published 09/25/2020
Alert
Published 09/24/2020
By Brandon Brauer
Industries Higher Education | Real Estate
By this point in late September, almost all higher education institutions have begun classes again, with many exclusively online. Administrators have been necessarily focused on practical steps and general strategies aimed at the possibility of holding in-person or hybrid classes ( i.e. , one live class with some students online over Zoom or similar software, and others physically in the classroom). Of those schools that have tried conducting in-person learning, some have had to scrap their plans and quickly switch to a strictly online model in the face of unanticipated obstacles. However,...
Blog Post
Published 09/24/2020
By Ruth A. Rauls, Erik P. Pramschufer
Article
Published 09/23/2020
Industries Government Contracts
Alert
Published 09/23/2020
By Bruce Armon, Samantha Gross
Industries Health Care
On September 21, 2020 the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced that Athens Orthopedic Clinic PA (AOC) agreed to pay $1,500,000, enter into a Resolution Agreement, and adopt a Corrective Action Plan (CAP) to settle potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy and Security Rules. AOC is located in Georgia and provides orthopedic services to approximately 138,000 patients annually. The Resolution Agreement is not an admission of liability by AOC. On June 26, 2016, a journalist...
Blog Post
Published 09/23/2020
By Gary B. Eidelman, Dena B. Calo
Services : Labor and Employment
Article
Published 09/22/2020
Alert
Published 09/22/2020
By Alexander R. Bilus
Industries Higher Education
Services Cybersecurity and Privacy
On September 21, 2020, a putative class action lawsuit was filed against the President and Fellows of Harvard College, Bank Street College of Education, and the Lower East Side Tenement Museum in connection with an alleged data breach. See Cohen v. Blackbaud, Inc. et al. , No 2:20-cv-01388 (W.D. Wash.). The suit also names each defendant’s software and service provider Blackbaud, Inc., whose systems were breached last spring in an apparent ransomware attack. Many higher education institutions and nonprofit organizations use Blackbaud platforms to manage fundraising activities and store...
Alert
Published 09/21/2020
By Pamela S. Goodwin, Melissa A. Clarke
Services Environmental
A New Jersey environmental justice bill that would give significant weight to environmental justice factors in permitting decisions for industrial projects became law on Friday. This new environmental justice law may affect new permits and renewals for facilities in New Jersey, with particularly significant implications for the State’s waste and recycling industry. On September 18, 2020, New Jersey Governor Philip D. Murphy signed legislation (S-232) aimed at limiting new pollution sources within so-called “overburdened communities” by requiring the New Jersey Department of Environmental...
Blog Post
Published 09/21/2020
By Lisa M. Koblin, Lauren F. Schoeberl
Alert
Published 09/18/2020
By Joshua W.B. Richards, Tricia Kazinetz
Industries Higher Education
On September 9, 2020, after receiving more than 17,000 public comments to its notice of proposed rulemaking (the “NPRM”), the United States Department of Education (the “Department”) published the Religious Liberty and Free Inquiry Final Rule (the “Final Rule”). The Department describes the Final Rule as reinforcing First Amendment freedoms and equal treatment of religious student organizations at public institutions and ensuring that private institutions adhere to their stated institutional policies regarding free speech and academic freedom. The Final Rule also purports to provide clarity...
Alert
Published 09/17/2020
By Bruce Armon, Samantha R. Gross
Industries Health Care
On September 15, 2020, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced that it had settled five investigations under its HIPAA Right of Access Initiative. The settlements are part of OCR’s efforts to ensure individuals can access their health records in a timely manner and at a reasonable cost under the Health Insurance Portability and accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule. OCR previously completed two other enforcement actions under the Right of Access Initiative against Korunda Medical, LLC and Bayfront Health St. Petersburg . Each...
Blog Post
Published 09/17/2020
By Gary B. Eidelman, Lelia F. Parker
Alert
Published 09/16/2020
By Jonathan Havens, Lauren Farruggia, Bruce Armon
Industries Health Care | Life Sciences
On September 1, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published in the Federal Register a proposed rule that, if finalized, would establish a Medicare coverage pathway to provide Medicare beneficiaries with faster access to new, innovative medical devices designated as “breakthrough” by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This proposed rule follows the October 3, 2019 Executive Order that requested CMS clarify coverage standards and consider adopting market-based policies. If/when the proposed rule is finalized, the Medicare Coverage of Innovative Technology (MCIT)...
Blog Post
Published 09/15/2020
By David G. Shapiro