CONSIDERATIONS FOR EMPLOYERS AS OSHA PENALTIES SOAR TO NEW HEIGHTS -
The U.S. Department of Labor recently announced inflation-adjustment increases in penalties for violating regulations promulgated by DOL agencies,...more
OSHA is pursuing a new avenue to identify potential employer violations related to COVID-19 employee deaths at long-term care facilities: employers’ CMS data.
In May 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services...more
Employers across multiple industries (not just healthcare!) are being cited by OSHA[i] for failing to protect employees from COVID-19, and the number of inspections and citations will likely continue to grow in the...more
Earlier this Spring, OSHA instituted employer recording requirements to document employees who contract COVID-19. Those requirements have been updated multiple times since their inception...more
Last week, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the “forum defendant rule” does not stop a non-forum defendant from removing a case to federal court, as long as it is removed before a forum defendant is served. This...more
Butler Snow recently provided guidance for employers regarding OSHA’s illness recording requirements for employees who contract COVID-19. As discussed in that article, since only “work related” incidents must be recorded...more
COVID-19 has caused a tidal wave of new considerations for companies, causing a wide-ranging ripple effect in the way American businesses operate. Given the projected statistics of the number of Americans who will eventually...more
The Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), enacted by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote to respond to the prisoner “litigation explosion,” has reduced the number of prisoner suits. But more than twenty years later, federal...more
In a previous post, I noted the recent twentieth anniversary of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) – highlighting the intent behind the Act (to curb frivolous inmate lawsuits) and the Act’s effect (a sixty percent drop...more
A million dollars in damages for melted ice cream. Cruel and unusual punishment for having to listen to country music. A suit demanding L.A. Gear or Reebock shoes instead of prison-issued Converses. An emotional distress...more