Employers in the US are more than a little fearful of COVID-19 related class and collective action lawsuits coming their way, and with good reason. Since shelter-in-place orders were imposed in March, US employers have faced class action lawsuits for a variety of COVID-19 related reasons, including the alleged failure to implement proper workplace safety measures or provide appropriate paid sick leave. To keep workers safe from contracting the virus at work, many employers have…

As we approach our 20th video chat in this series, we hope you have found these quick and bite-sized video chats with our employment partners helpful and informative. These Q&A-styled sessions offer targeted insights into the most timely and critical issues that US employers are facing as they navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. Combined with our client alerts, webinars, podcasts and Shelter-In-Place / Reopening Tracker, we strive to help you stay ahead of the curve and…

A CEO who becomes entangled in human resources functions by terminating an employee in a distant locale could expose himself to personal jurisdiction (and personal liability) there, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals recently held in Urquhart-Bradley v. Mobley, No 19-7716 (D.C. Cir. June 30, 2020). The message to executives is clear: a termination conversation could count as sufficient contacts for purposes of personal jurisdiction, even if the employee being terminated is in another…

We recently published an update to our 50-state Shelter-In-Place / Reopening Tracker. Please see HERE. This is updated weekly. For your convenience, here is a summary of the major updates from around the country: The Governors of several states extended their shelter-in-place orders, including Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, New Mexico, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Washington, Wyoming. The Governors of California, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey and New York rolled back certain re-opening measures, mainly with respect…

On June 23, 2020, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) ruled that newly-represented employees can be disciplined under existing disciplinary policies even if no bargaining has occurred. 800 River Road Operating Company, Inc., 369 NLRB No. 109 (2020). For the first eighty years of the National Labor Relation Act’s existence, this had been the law of the land. A surprise decision four years ago in Total Security Management Illinois, 364 NLRB No. 106 (2016), upended…