Insights

The bill does not prohibit parties from entering into arbitration or class action waivers once a claim arises. In other words, an employee may elect to arbitrate a claim, but the new law will ensure the employee has a choice in the matter. Generally, arbitration clauses are signed by employees as part of their employment contracts, a practice that favors employers over employees.

Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion staying enforcement of OSHA’s emergency temporary standard (“ETS”) which had required vaccines or weekly testing for employers with 100 employees or more.

Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court greenlit enforcement of the vaccine mandate rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) while litigation regarding the rule continued in the lower courts.  The interim final rule requires all healthcare workers working in facilities that receive funding from CMS be vaccinated—except for those with medical and religious exemptions.

Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit granted the Biden administration’s request to dissolve the Fifth Circuit’s November 6 stay on the emergency Covid-19 “shot-or-test” rule.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has updated its guidance on COVID-19 (What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws) to address when COVID-19 might be considered a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The Need for Owners to React in Real Time to Project Changes Caused by Supply Chain Interruptions, Skyrocketing Material Increases and Labor Shortages