Litigation and COVID-19: How to Protect Your Business in This Time of Crisis
As recently blogged about here, in March 2025, Office of the Attorney General for the State of New York introduced the Fostering Affordability and Integrity Through Reasonable (“FAIR”) Business Practices Act in the State...more
Cal/OSHA announced in a press release on December 12, 2024, that it had issued its first willful heat violation citation, highlighting its increased emphasis on heat illness prevention. The citation imposed $276,425 in...more
How does the IRS define willfulness in unreported or under-reported offshore income? What actions help determine whether a U.S. taxpayer's actions amount to "willful or non-willful" conduct? Why should U.S. taxpayers be...more
Earlier this month, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced that maximum civil penalties for serious violations would increase from $15,625 to $16,131. The penalties for repeat or willful violations...more
Federal OSHA (“Fed OSHA”) has long had a Severe Violators Enforcement Program (“SVEP”), intended to target employers who demonstrate “indifference to their OSH Act obligations by willful, repeated, or failure-to-abate...more
Portions of employer liability in California PAGA actions are dischargeable in bankruptcy under a bankruptcy court decision issued this summer. Specifically, employers’ liability for the 25% share of PAGA penalties to be...more
Earlier this week, the California Court of Appeal reached a decision that may ease employers’ worries when presented with a wage and hour lawsuit. California’s plaintiff-friendly laws provide avenues for plaintiffs to...more
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has announced two enforcement guidance changes with the goal of deterring violations by substantially increasing the penalties certain employers may face for alleged...more
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has increased its minimum and maximum penalties for workplace safety and health violations by 7.7 percent effective January 17, 2023. Today, a “serious” violation...more
In Flint v. United States, 2022 WL 3593826 (Fed. Cl. 2022), the court held that the executors of an estate could not recover a six-figure "Title 26 miscellaneous offshore penalty" (MOP) the decedent paid to the Internal...more
Willful FBAR Penalties - The Schwarzbaum case has received a lot of attention in the last few years from tax professionals. For example, in 2020, the district court concluded—contrary to some other federal court...more
It’s that time of year again. Various football teams scramble at the end of the regular season for a chance at the playoffs. And with each game’s conclusion spectators get an updated “playoff picture” with respect to where...more
The "Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts" (FBAR) penalty has been the subject of much litigation. This Holland & Knight alert focuses on the non-willfulness element of 31 U.S.C. § 5321(a)(5)(B). Both the U.S. Court...more
California’s Governor has signed Senate Bill 606 (SB 606), which authorizes Cal/OSHA to issue a citation for egregious violation of an occupational safety or health standard, order, special order, or regulation for each...more
A federal district court in Texas recently took up an interesting FBAR issue: whether civil FBAR penalties survive death? That is, if a taxpayer/account holder dies after the IRS assesses an FBAR penalty against them, do the...more
Spilman lawyers addressed litigation issues of critical importance to large and small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Major topics include up-to-date litigation trends, as well as civil recourse for supply chain...more
On May 15, 2018, the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas issued an important ruling concerning the application of willful FBAR penalties under 31 U.S.C. § 5321. In United States v. Colliot, Case...more
Post at a glance: • FinCEN imposes $8 million penalty against California’s biggest and oldest card club • Club failed to implement and maintain an effective anti-money laundering (AML) program and failed to detect,...more