VC firms have been funding, and M&A transactions should continue to increase in the health information technology (HIT) sector
“We are gearing up!” I heard this statement and other similar statements from many VC firms when I recently attended “The World Congress Annual Leadership Summit on Mergers & Acquisitions in the Health Care” in Orlando, Florida. Consistently, panelists and attendees at the conference noted that VC firms are funding for M&A transactional opportunities within the heath information technology (or HIT) sector. According to many managing directors ...
By Michael Kun
On Monday, June 25, 2011, the California Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in Coito v. Superior Court, addressing the issue of whether a party in litigation could rely upon the work product doctrine to withhold witness statements obtained by its attorneys or the identities of persons who had given such statements.
In short, while parties in California have long relied upon dicta in the Court of Appeal decision known as Nacht v. Lewis for the proposition that such information is protected from disclosure by the work product doctrine, case-by-case ...
By Matthew Sorensen and Dana Livne
One of the major ways in which American employment law has traditionally differed from its British counterpart has been its entrenched employment “at-will” doctrine. The “at-will” employment doctrine provides employers with the right to terminate their relationships with their employees at any time, with or without notice or cause. UK companies doing business in the US are often relieved to be advised that they become “at-will” employers to their US-based employees. In the US, unless an employer has entered an employment contract ...
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently held, in a case of first impression, that a manager who was not the actual decision-maker in an employee’s discharge could still be held personally liable under Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 under a “cat’s paw” theory of liability.
In Smith v. Bray, Darrel Smith claimed that he had been subjected to racial harassment by his immediate supervisor, James Bianchetta, and that he was fired because he reported this harassment to a human resources manager, Denise Bray. The employer’s liability was ...
As further evidence of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (“EEOC”) focus on “caregiver” discrimination, the EEOC has signaled its strong support for protecting working women from discrimination based on lactation or breastfeeding in a case now pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
The EEOC maintains that discriminating against a woman for lactation or breast pumping is prohibited sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”) as amended by the Pregnancy ...
This week, Washington Legal Foundation published an article regarding OSHA's New Enterprise-Wide Approach to Enforcement, authored by EBG attorneys Eric J. Conn and Alexis M. Downs. The article expands on a February 2012 post entitled "Enterprise Enforcement: OSHA's Attack on Employers with Multiple Locations," here on the OSHA Law Update Blog.
The gist of the article and the prior blog post is that companies that operate multiple facilities in different locations, such as national retail and grocery chains, grain cooperatives, large national nursing and medical care ...
by Frank C. Morris, Jr., and Allen B. Roberts
The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) Administrative Review Board (“ARB”) has sounded an alarm that needs to be heard by accounting firms, law firms, and other consultants, advisors, and providers of services to publicly traded companies. With its recent decision in Spinner v. David Landau & Associates, LLC, ARB Case Nos. 10-111, 10-115 (May 31, 2012), the ARB continued its expansion of whistleblower protection, holding that Sarbanes-Oxley (“SOX”) whistleblower protections extend to employees of privately held ...
The OSHA/Hyatt Hotels saga continued with a recent exchange of letters between OSHA and the hotel chain’s attorney. In April, OSHA issued a “5(a)(1) letter” to the CEO of Hyatt Hotels, indicated that OSHA believed there were ergonomic risks associated with the daily work activities of the company’s housekeeping staff. The letter put the hotel chain “on notice” that while OSHA did not believe that a “recognized hazard” existed at the time of the inspection, such that a General Duty Clause citation should issue, if the same hazard was later ...
by Frank C. Morris, Jr., and Allen B. Roberts
The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) Administrative Review Board (“ARB”) has sounded an alarm that needs to be heard by accounting firms, law firms, and other consultants, advisors, and providers of services to publicly traded companies. With its recent decision in Spinner v. David Landau & Associates, LLC, ARB Case Nos. 10-111, 10-115 (May 31, 2012), the ARB continued its expansion of whistleblower protection, holding that Sarbanes-Oxley (“SOX”) whistleblower protections extend to employees of privately held ...
Guest post by Kara Maciel
In a settlement that all financial service companies should be aware of, Century Heritage FCU, recently resolved a class action lawsuit concerning the accessibility features of its automatic teller machines (“ATMs”). Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), banks, credit unions and financial service companies must make their ATMs accessible for individuals with disabilities. In the settlement, Century Heritage agreed to update its ATMs within 90 days to offer accommodations for blind and visually impaired customers. The credit ...
By: William J. Milani and Anna Kolontyrsky
The Eastern District of New York has rejected a claim for relief under the New York State Human Rights Law (“NYSHRL”) brought by a job applicant who alleged that a bank unlawfully discriminated against her based on her criminal history. In Smith v. Bank of America Corp. (subscription required), Smith, who worked as a temporary employee at Bank of America, was encouraged by her supervisor to apply for full-time employment. Before doing so, she informed her supervisor that she had been arrested and charged with a misdemeanor but that the ...
Continuing its effort to “outreach” to non-union employees and educate them on their rights under the National Labor Relations Act, the NLRB has launched a new webpage on Concerted Activity. The NLRB’s announcement of its new webpage made clear the page is designed to inform employees of their rights “even if they are not in a union.”
The webpage, in addition to giving basic descriptions of concerted activities, asserts that “The law we enforce gives employees the right to act together to try to improve their pay and working conditions or fix job-related ...
Continuing its effort to “outreach” to non-union employees and educate them on their rights under the National Labor Relations Act, the NLRB has launched a new webpage on Concerted Activity. The NLRB’s announcement of its new webpage made clear the page is designed to inform employees of their rights “even if they are not in a union.”
The webpage, in addition to giving basic descriptions of concerted activities, asserts that “The law we enforce gives employees the right to act together to try to improve their pay and working conditions or fix job-related ...
The OSHA/Hyatt Hotels saga continued with a recent exchange of letters between OSHA and the hotel chain’s attorney. In April, OSHA issued a “5(a)(1) letter” to the CEO of Hyatt Hotels, indicating that OSHA believed there were ergonomic risks associated with the daily work activities of the company’s housekeeping staff. The letter put the hotel chain “on notice” that while OSHA did not believe that a “recognized hazard” existed at the time of the inspection, such that a General Duty Clause citation should issue, if the same hazard was later ...
Join us Wednesday, June 20, 2012 at 9:00 am Eastern either by Webinar or in person for a complimentary briefing presented by Epstein Becker Green attorneys Eric J. Conn and Amanda R. Strainis-Walker of the Firm’s national OSHA Practice Group.
The briefing will cover actions that employers should take now to prepare their workplaces and workforce for unexpected visits from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), review employers’ and employees’ rights during an OSHA inspection, and discuss inspection strategies to ensure the best possible outcome from ...
by Margaret C. Thering and Lauri F. Rasnick
Violence against women has been in the headlines lately – the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act is engendering vigorous debate, and as of last month, federal agencies were ordered to implement policies to assist their employees who are victims of domestic violence. Also last month, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the Injury Control Research Center at West Virginia University published a paper entitled “Workplace Homicides Among U.S. Women: The Role of Intimate Partner Violence” in the ...
By: Paul Rosenberg
Last week the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to uphold its controversial Specialty Healthcare decision. The NLRB’s 3-1 split decision in Specialty Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center of Mobile, overturned a 1991 decision and held that an employer that challenges a proposed bargaining unit on the basis that it improperly excludes certain employees is required to prove that the excluded workers share “an overwhelming community of interest” with those in the proposed unit.
The NLRB ...
As a direct result of the financial crisis, an increasing number of states have enacted or are considering statutes that prohibit or restrict employers from obtaining and using credit reports for making hiring and other employment decisions. Eight states have now passed such legislation - California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Oregon, Washington and Vermont. Similar legislation is pending in many other states - including New Jersey and New York - and bills have been introduced at the federal level as well. In most states that have ...
by Margaret C. Thering and Lauri F. Rasnick
Violence against women has been in the headlines lately – the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act is engendering vigorous debate, and as of last month, federal agencies were ordered to implement policies to assist their employees who are victims of domestic violence. Also last month, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the Injury Control Research Center at West Virginia University published a paper entitled “Workplace Homicides Among U.S. Women: The Role of Intimate Partner Violence” in the ...
By Evan Rosen
Hospitality employers continue to get hit with class action lawsuits alleging that they are unlawfully taking the tip credit for their employees. Under federal law, and the law of most states, an employer may pay less than the minimum wage to any employee who regularly and customarily receives tips. The difference between the minimum wage and the hourly wage rate is called the "tip credit."
This compensation system, when administered correctly, has the advantage of saving employers a significant sum of money. But employers must implement ...
Epstein Becker Green is proud to announce that it has received the 2012 Chambers USA Award for Excellence in the Healthcare category. The results were announced at an awards dinner held on Thursday, June 7, 2012, in New York. Other firms nominated in the Healthcare category included Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP; Hogan Lovells US LLP; King & Spalding LLP; McDermott Will & Emery LLP; Ober Kaler Grimes & Shriver PC; and Proskauer Rose LLP.
The Chambers USA Awards for Excellence are based on research for the 2012 edition of Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business and reflect ...
Epstein Becker Green is proud to announce that it has received the 2012 Chambers USA Award for Excellence in the Healthcare category. The results were announced at an awards dinner held on Thursday, June 7, 2012, in New York. Other firms nominated in the Healthcare category included Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP; Hogan Lovells US LLP; King & Spalding LLP; McDermott Will & Emery LLP; Ober Kaler Grimes & Shriver PC; and Proskauer Rose LLP.
The Chambers USA Awards for Excellence are based on research for the 2012 edition of Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business and reflect ...
Epstein Becker Green is proud to announce that it has received the 2012 Chambers USA Award for Excellence in the Healthcare category. The results were announced at an awards dinner held on Thursday, June 7, 2012, in New York. Other firms nominated in the Healthcare category included Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP; Hogan Lovells US LLP; King & Spalding LLP; McDermott Will & Emery LLP; Ober Kaler Grimes & Shriver PC; and Proskauer Rose LLP.
The Chambers USA Awards for Excellence are based on research for the 2012 edition of Chambers USA: America's Leading ...
By Alexis M. Downs and Eric J. Conn
Although OSHA currently has no regulations specifically addressing Safety Incentive Programs, they have recently come under fire by OSHA because the Agency believes that such programs have a chilling effect on workplace injury reporting. Incentive programs have been a serious focus of OSHA’s Director, David Michaels, since he assumed his position early in the Obama Administration.
Dr. Michaels explained that OSHA “strongly disapprove[s] of programs offering workers parties and prizes for not reporting injuries, or bonuses for managers ...
ByMichael S. Kun and Aaron F. Olsen
Earlier this week, the California Court of Appeals issued a ruling in Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, LLC that illustrates how the legal landscape in California has shifted in favor of enforcing arbitration agreements with class action waivers. This, of course, is a welcome development for employers with operations in California, which have been besieged by class action lawsuits alleging wage-and-hour violations for the past 10+ years.
In 2006, the plaintiff in Iskanian filed a putative class action complaint against his ...
The Legal 500 United States, now in its 26th year, collects feedback from more than 180,000 in-house counsel and lawyers to select the leading law firms and lawyers in specific legal practice areas and industries. The Legal 500 is an independent guide, and firms and individuals are recommended purely on merit.
In 2012, both of Epstein Becker Green’s founding practices - Health Care and Life Sciences and Labor and Employment - as well as several individual attorneys, were recognized as leaders in their fields of practice.
For more information about the ranking and to read excerpts ...
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