Tag Archives: employers

You Can’t Fire Me for Drug Diversion If I Am Personally Consuming the Drugs

Photo of Robert M. WolinBy Robert M. Wolin on Posted in Uncategorized
A nurse employed by a major medical center was suspected of illegally diverting medications. When confronted by her employer with evidence of suspicious transactions recorded by the provider’s medication monitoring systems, the nurse denied diverting medications but could not explain the suspicious transactions (“I’m not an IT person. I’m a nurse.”). Following termination of her … Continue Reading

Employee Reference Releases: Who’s In and Who’s Out?

Photo of Robert M. WolinBy Robert M. Wolin on Posted in Uncategorized
A recent Indiana defamation case, Manhas v. Franciscan Hammond Clinic, serves as a critical reminder of the importance of scrutinizing physician and employee reference forms and releases. Dr. Sheila Manhas and Franciscan Hammond Clinic (FHC) were parties to a settlement agreement that included a provision whereby Dr. Manhas would direct inquiries from prospective employers to … Continue Reading

Texas Judge Halts December 1 Implementation of Department of Labor’s “Overtime Final Rule”

Photo of Ashlee GrantBy Ashlee Grant on Posted in Uncategorized
Christmas came early for many employers yesterday when, in a stunning turn of events, Judge Amos L. Mazzant III of the Eastern District of Texas issued a nationwide injunction halting the implementation of the Department of Labor’s Overtime Final Rule. This Overtime Final Rule would have doubled the requisite minimum salary threshold for employees to … Continue Reading

California OSHA Sets the Bar by Adopting the Strongest Workplace Violence Prevention Standard in the Nation

Photo of BakerHostetlerBy BakerHostetler on Posted in Uncategorized
On Oct. 21, 2016, after nearly two years of meetings and work, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal/OSHA) adopted a standard intended to reduce workplace violence against healthcare workers. This is a monumental action by Cal/OSHA for at least three reasons. First, federal OSHA currently has no specific standard governing workplace … Continue Reading

Texas Open Carry Law: FAQs for Hospitals and Healthcare Facilities

Photo of Gregory S. SaikinBy Michael Lombardino and Gregory S. Saikin on Posted in Uncategorized
As of January 1, 2016, concealed license holders in Texas can now legally carry their handguns visibly in hip or shoulder holsters. This comes at a time when violence in hospitals and healthcare facilities is on the rise. According to a 2015 survey published by the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety Foundation, from … Continue Reading

DOL Final Rule Withstands Challenge, Mandates Changes for Home Health Employers

Photo of Joel D. GottesmanBy Joel D. Gottesman on Posted in Uncategorized
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit recently reinstated regulations from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), extending federal minimum wage and overtime requirements to home health workers employed by third-party employers. Home Care Association of America v. Weil, No. 15-5018 (Aug. 21, 2015) concerns plaintiffs-appellees Home Care Association of America (Home Care) … Continue Reading

EEOC Issues Proposed Regulations on Wellness Programs and the ADA

By Dan McClain and Brian Murray on Posted in Uncategorized
On April 20, 2015, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued highly anticipated proposed regulations addressing the application of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) to workplace wellness programs. In recent years, the EEOC has been sharply criticized for challenging employers’ wellness programs under the ADA despite not having issued regulations addressing those programs. Its … Continue Reading

FAQs by Employers Regarding the Anthem Breach

Photo of Theodore J. Kobus IIIPhoto of Lynn SessionsBy Theodore J. Kobus III and Lynn Sessions on Posted in Uncategorized
Do we have any legal obligations under HIPAA? It depends on your contractual relationship with Anthem and whether the group health plan offered by your company is self-insured. If your company’s group health plan is self-insured and your company contracts with Anthem to administer the plan, process claims, etc., then your company’s group health plan … Continue Reading

Today’s Special: What May Be on Your Hospital Cafeteria Menu Soon

By Ellen Shadur Gross on Posted in Uncategorized
On November 14, 2014, an Administrative Law Judge fired another round in the continuing skirmish between the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the federal courts over the rights of union representatives to enter an employer’s property to conduct organizing activity. UPMC and its Subsidiary UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside and SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania CTW just might signal … Continue Reading

Massachusetts Nurses Association Battles Hospital Over Influenza Vaccine

By Ellen Shadur Gross on Posted in Uncategorized
On September 22, 2014, the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) filed a complaint in Massachusetts Superior Court seeking an injunction against implementation of a new mandatory influenza vaccination policy by Brigham & Women’s Hospital (BWH). According to a recent article in the Boston Globe, BWH has a much lower influenza vaccination rate (77 percent) than other … Continue Reading

Washington, D.C., Joins the Ban-the-Box Movement for Private Employers

Photo of Todd LebowitzBy Todd Lebowitz on Posted in Uncategorized
Editor’s note:  This post originally appeared on BakerHostetler’s Employment Law Spotlight blog. The District of Columbia has passed one of the most stringent ban-the-box laws in the nation.  The D.C. law includes the typical prohibition on asking questions about criminal background during the application process, but it also adds a requirement, similar to New York … Continue Reading

The California Court of Appeal Finds That an Employee Expense Is an Employee Expense Is an Employee Expense

Photo of Vartan MadoyanBy Vartan Madoyan on Posted in Uncategorized
Editor’s note:  This post originally appeared on BakerHostetler’s Employment Law Spotlight blog. On Tuesday, August 12, 2014, the California Court of Appeal (Second Appellate District) published a decision that could impact many employers in California. The threshold question at issue in the case was whether an employer was required to reimburse its employees for the … Continue Reading

Hospital’s Failure to Abate Patient and Visitor Violence Against Employees Results in OSHA Penalty

Photo of Robert M. WolinBy Robert M. Wolin and Kinal Patel on Posted in Uncategorized
Hospitals, remarkably, are one of the most hazardous places to work. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, hospital workers have an estimated rate of 8.3 assaults per 10,000 workers compared to an estimated 2 assaults per 10,000 workers in the overall work environment. With this background in mind, the Occupational Safety and Health … Continue Reading

Rules of the Road Change for Government Contractors

By Ellen Shadur Gross on Posted in Uncategorized
On July 31, 2014, with a stroke of his pen, President Obama promulgated new rules targeting government contractors who commit “serious,” “repeated,” “willful” and “pervasive” violations of laws regulating the workplace. The executive order also will change government contractor payroll practices and will limit the use of predispute mandatory arbitration agreements. Even before the new … Continue Reading

Background Check Lawsuits: If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Another

Photo of Pat MuldowneyBy Pat Muldowney on Posted in Uncategorized
Editor’s Note:  This post originally appeared on BakerHostetler’s Employment Law Spotlight blog. As we previously have written, employer use of criminal records and background checks with respect to applicants and employees has been the subject of challenge on the grounds that such checks tend to discriminate against African-American, Hispanic, and male applicants.  Indeed, on July … Continue Reading

Background Check Questions: Illinois Joins Ban-the-Box States; New Jersey May Be Next

Photo of Todd LebowitzBy Todd Lebowitz and Melissa Siebert on Posted in Uncategorized
Editor’s Note:  This post originally appeared on BakerHostetler’s Employment Law Spotlight blog. Illinois Criminal background questions on employment applications will no longer be permitted in Illinois, effective January 1, 2015. On July 19, Governor Quinn signed the Job Opportunities for Qualified Applicants Act, making Illinois the fifth state to prohibit private employers from asking criminal … Continue Reading

Thirty Years of Law in Thirty-Some Pages: The EEOC’s New Guidance on Pregnancy Discrimination

Photo of Amy J. TraubBy Amy J. Traub and Laura Scully on Posted in Uncategorized
Editor’s note:  This post originally appeared on BakerHostetler’s Employment Law Spotlight blog. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently issued its “Enforcement Guidance on Pregnancy Discrimination and Related Issues.” It was no minor undertaking. According to the EEOC’s Questions and Answers about the Guidance, it “updates prior guidance on this subject in light of legal … Continue Reading

No Return Date, No Problem: Seventh Circuit Reverses FMLA Summary Judgment for Employer

Photo of Pat MuldowneyBy Pat Muldowney on Posted in Uncategorized
Editor’s note:  This post originally appeared on BakerHostetler’s Employment Law Spotlight blog. On June 24, 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that an employee did not forfeit her right to leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to care for her seriously ill adult daughter by failing to … Continue Reading

Joint Employment Finding Leads to Unexpected $3 Million Liability in Hospital Malpractice Case

Photo of Todd LebowitzBy Todd Lebowitz on Posted in Uncategorized
Editor’s note:  This post originally appeared on BakerHostetler’s Employment Law Spotlight blog. When Washington Hospital obtained an insurance policy in 2003 to cover medical claims arising from acts by its employees, its insurer probably did not consider whether hospital employees included workers supplied by a staffing agency. It should have. The issue of whether a … Continue Reading

Hobby Lobby: Likely First of Many Cases Pitting Religion Against ACA

By Virginia Medina on Posted in Uncategorized
The U.S. Supreme Court on June 30, 2014, ruled 5-4 that a closely held, for-profit corporation can qualify for an exemption from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) requirements mandating contraceptive coverage for employees. The exemption is only available if the mandate imposes a substantial burden on the corporation’s ability to “conduct … Continue Reading

United States Supreme Court Strikes Down Illinois Regulatory Framework Requiring Personal Assistants for Medicaid Recipients to Pay Union Dues or Fees

By M.J. Asensio and Sam Endicott on Posted in Uncategorized
Editor’s Note:  This post originally appeared on BakerHostetler’s Employment Law Spotlight blog. In its much anticipated decision in Harris v. Quinn, 573 U.S. __ (2014), the Supreme Court of the United States in a five to four ruling struck down an Illinois regulatory framework that required personal assistants (PAs) for Medicaid recipients to pay agency … Continue Reading

The National Labor Relations Board Continues Its Full-Frontal Attack on Employers’ Rules of Conduct

By Elliot Azoff on Posted in Uncategorized
Editor’s Note:  This post originally appeared on BakerHostetler’s Employment Law Spotlight blog. The National Labor Relations Board (Board) continues its full-frontal attack on reasonable rules of conduct promulgated by employers in two recent cases issued at the beginning of April. In Hills and Dales General Hospital, 360 NLRB No. 70 (April, 1, 2014), the Board … Continue Reading

Northwestern Football Players and Academic Medical Centers: The Other Shoe Has Dropped

Photo of Marc AntonettiBy Ellen Shadur Gross and Marc Antonetti on Posted in Uncategorized
Editor’s Note: The following Executive Alert was published by members of BakerHostetler’s Labor Relations team. In a move that has surprised many, but not all, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)-watchers and collegiate football fans, Chicago-area NLRB regional director Peter Sung Ohr has determined that Northwestern University (Northwestern) football players who receive grant-in-aid are employees of … Continue Reading
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