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This month’s Friday Five explores decisions from around the country discussing differences between LTD and LWOP policies, the breadth of discretion available to claims administrators and the always important topic of timely action by insurers in issuing claims decisions. The Saul Ewing Employee...
Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan, Sting, David Bowie, Stevie Nicks, Bruce Springsteen, and now KISS. What do they all have in common? They have all sold their music catalogs in the past 10 years. Jackson and Springsteen reaped the biggest rewards at over $500M each. Catalog sales have become big business...
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau continues to expand its presence into different businesses, including for-profit colleges. On April 17, 2024, the CFPB issued a consent order against a for-profit college for computer programming. According to the consent order, the school “offers training...
On April 22, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced a final rule to support reproductive health care privacy (the “Reproductive Rule”). According to the HHS OCR press release, the Reproductive Rule, “is one of many actions taken by HHS...
This November, California voters may have the opportunity to replace the controversial Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”) by voting on a proposed bill that would double penalties for willful labor-law violators, but would eliminate employees’ ability to file private lawsuits on behalf...
On April 4, Cindy Lehr retired from her role as chief staff attorney to the Minnesota Court of Appeals, a position she had held for more than 40 years. Cindy has been succeeded as chief by seasoned Staff Attorney Liz Keating. A few weeks into Liz’s tenure as chief staff attorney, she and Cindy sat...
On April 24, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) published in the Federal Register a final rule on Accessibility of Web Information and Services of State and Local Government Entities. These regulations are at 28 C.F.R part 35. The new regulation largely tracks the DOJ’s Notice of Proposed...
On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) approved a final rule (the “Rule”) broadly banning all employee non-compete clauses, with limited exceptions. The Saul Ewing Labor and Employment Group prepared an alert summarizing the Rule through a non-industry specific lens. Saul Ewing Health...
On Friday, April 19, 2024, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced its final rule designating perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act...
On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced a Final Rule that drastically expands overtime protections to millions of workers across the country. This Rule, which raises the salary threshold for certain exemptions, forces employers to quickly determine whether they will make the...
Non-Compete Clauses Banned By The FTC In January 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking for a comprehensive ban on employee non-compete clauses. The FTC received over 26,000 comments from employees, businesses of all sizes, and other stakeholders in the...
On April 17, 2024 the U.S. Supreme Court resolved a circuit split over the standard to apply to Title VII discrimination cases challenging job transfers, ruling that discriminatory workplace transfers are prohibited even if they do not cause “significant” harm. In a unanimous decision, the Court...
On April 18, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) collectively launched a new publicly accessible web portal to which members of the public can make reports of what they believe to be competition –...
Section 179D of the Internal Revenue Code, first enacted in 2006, grants qualifying building owners or tenants of commercial buildings a federal tax deduction for the installation of energy-efficient features and systems in existing or new-build projects. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (“IRA”)...
Earlier this week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a final rule providing guidance on the Pregnancy Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). The final rule will be published in the Federal Register on April 19 and becomes effective 60 days later. The final rule solidifies the EEOC’s...
It is rare for the Supreme Court to decide cases involving the Constitution’s Takings Clause, and, indeed, not uncommon for the Court to go years without considering the Clause at all; so, when the Court issues two decisions involving the Takings Clause in less than a week, attention must be paid...
Flow-down (or “pass-through” or “conduit”) clauses are a common feature in construction contracts, particularly in projects involving multiple tiers of contracts. These clauses are intended to ensure the terms and conditions between the prime contractor and owner apply to all lower tiers of...
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) to create various forms of media raises interesting legal issues relating to the protection of intellectual property. Generative AI is being used to create songs that have vocals and other characteristics that mimic the sound and style of famous musicians. In...