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The New York Labor Law has been amended to clarify that workers may not be punished or disciplined for taking legally protected absences. Under Section 215 of the Labor Law, employers are prohibited from retaliating against workers for enumerated reasons, including instituting certain legal...
This month’s Friday Five covers cases relating to augmentation of the administrative record following new rationales, attempted alternative ERISA causes of action, untimely ERISA claims, plans governed by ERISA even in the absence of a written plan document, and the limited weight given to residual...
From coast to coast, new states are passing laws that require employers to implement clear pay transparency policies, such as providing specific salary ranges in their job postings. These laws are an expansion of the federal Equal Pay Act – which requires equal pay for equal work among similarly...
This month’s Friday Five covers cases relating to the interpretation of time periods for claims under life insurance and disability plans, a situation where three separate administrators handled a disability benefits claim (but came to different decisions), the Eleventh Circuit’s parsing of...
By now, business owners and their counsel have become increasingly aware of the high volume of lawsuits filed across the country alleging that commercial websites violate Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and similar state and local laws, for failing to make their websites...
A federal jury in the Northern District of Illinois recently awarded nearly $23 million to the developer of a luxury hotel in Chicago’s trendy West Loop arising from multiple breaches of contract and fraud by its design-builder. What is particularly striking about the judgment in NHC LLC v. Centaur...
On September 9, 2022, the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (the “Commission”) issued guidance for employers on how to evaluate suspected cannabis impairment in the workplace. Although the guidance leaves some questions unanswered, it should provide some comfort to employers operating in an...
During the 2022 legislative session, the Virginia General Assembly passed Senate Bill 550 (“SB 550”), which Virginia Governor Youngkin signed into law. SB 550 amends a portion of the Virginia Prompt Payment Act and a component of the Virginia wage theft statute, prohibiting “pay-if-paid” clauses in...
This month’s Friday Five covers cases relating to interpretation of ambiguous policy terms, evaluation of claimant’s expert witness, inclusion of law firms as appropriate parties from whom plan administrators may seek equitable relief, transfer of cases from the claimant’s choice of venue, and...
This month’s Friday Five addresses cases considering: (1) whether monetary relief in the amount of lost benefits is an available remedy for breach of fiduciary duty; (2) the validity of an ex-spouse’s beneficiary designation that contradicts a subsequent divorce decree; (3) if waiver of a pre...
For the second time in a two-year span, the D.C. City Council voted in favor of largely banning non-compete agreements within the District. As we wrote in May 2021, the D.C. City Council initially passed the Ban on Non-Compete Agreements Amendment Act of 2020 (the “Act”), which would have imposed...
This is a summer when many employees (and employers) may be done with COVID-19, but the virus is not done with us. While government mandates have virtually disappeared, the expected surge of omicron variants during 2022, and the resulting increase in absenteeism due to illness and quarantine...
On May 13, 2022, Governor J.B. Pritzker signed Senate Bill 3146, amending the Illinois “One Day Rest in Seven” Act into law. Shortly after, Governor Pritzker signed into law Senate Bill 3120, the Family Bereavement Leave Act, which amends the Child Bereavement Leave Act. Illinois employers should be...
A Delaware trial court, applying New Jersey and Delaware law, recently ruled that a general contractor, despite not being a party to either a loan agreement or loan commitment, could successfully recover damages from a construction lender. See BCD Assocs., LLC v. Crown Bank, No. CV N15C-11-062 EMD...
This month’s Friday Five covers cases relating to interpretation of regulatory deadlines, the enforceability of discretionary clauses, circuit courts going both ways on appeals from summary judgment rulings in favor of plans, and a benefits award for a former professional football player where the...
Case: Bain v. Airoom, LLC, 2022 IL App (1st) 211001 A recent Illinois appellate decision warns that overbroad form arbitration agreements in construction contracts may be unenforceable.