Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.

Epstein Becker & Green, P.C., is a national law firm with a primary focus on health care and life sciences; employment, labor, and workforce management; and litigation and business disputes. Founded in 1973 as an industry-focused firm, Epstein Becker Green has decades of experience serving clients in health care, financial services, retail, hospitality, and technology, among other industries, representing entities from startups to Fortune 100 companies. Operating in locations throughout the United States and supporting domestic and multinational clients, the firm’s attorneys are committed to uncompromising client service and legal excellence.

Podcast: The Biden Administration’s First 100 Days – Diagnosing Health Care

By Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.

January 25, 2021

In this episode of the Diagnosing Health Care Podcast, dive into the Biden Administration’s first 100 days in office and the potential executive orders, regulations, and new legislation with noteworthy health care policy implications. Epstein Becker Green attorneys Ted Kennedy, Philo Hall, and Paulina Grabczak discuss President Biden’s priorities, including his COVID-19 response plan, and examines which “midnight rules” put in place by the Trump Administration could be intercepted or retained. The…

Wage and Hour Defense Blog

U.S. Department of Labor Issues New Opinion Letter Clarifying Independent Contractor Status

By Kyle D. Winnick

January 25, 2021

On January 19, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”) issued an Opinion Letter applying the Department’s recently-issued Final Rule concerning Independent Contractor Status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (the “Final Rule”). This Opinion Letter provides helpful guidance to businesses, especially those in highly-regulated industries, on how to properly structure their relationships with independent contractors under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). As background, the FLSA’s minimum wage and overtime…

Commercial Litigation Update

Less Than a Month After DOJ Brings Its First Wage-Fixing Indictment, DOJ Brings Its First “No-Poach” Indictment

By Janene Marasciullo & David J. Clark

January 22, 2021

justice and law counsel gavel - shutterstock_1100540591

Our colleagues Janene Marasciullo and David J. Clark of Epstein Becker Green have a new post on the Trade Secrets and Employee Mobility blog that will be of interest to our readers: “Less Than a Month After DOJ Brings Its First Wage-Fixing Indictment, DOJ Brings Its First “No-Poach” Indictment.” The following is an excerpt: In the past month, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has made good on its 2016 threat, contained in…

Health Law Advisor

DOJ False Claims Act Statistics 2020: Over 80% of All Recoveries Came from the Health Care Industry

By George B. Breen, Erica Sibley Bahnsen & Elizabeth Harris

January 21, 2021

On January 14, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) reported its False Claims Act (FCA) statistics for fiscal year (FY) 2020. More than $2.2 billion was recovered from both settlements and judgments in 2020, the lowest level since 2008 and almost $1 billion less than was recovered in 2019. The total recoveries in 2020 reflect the first of many anticipated resolutions of fraud enforcement actions in the COVID-19 world, and over 80% of…

Workforce Bulletin

How Big Can the Carrot Be? The EEOC’s New Proposed Rules Regarding Permissible Level of Incentives in Health-Contingent Workplace Wellness Programs

By Jennifer Barna, Tzvia Feiertag, Frank C. Morris, Jr., Maxine Neuhauser & Christopher Shur*

January 20, 2021

Many employers have established wellness programs to promote employee health and, in doing so, help counter the ever increasing costs associated with employer-sponsored health benefit plans. Often employers want to establish programs that provide employees with incentives to achieve certain health outcomes, such as smoking cessation or weight loss. Employers must exercise caution in creating such health-contingent wellness programs, which necessarily require employees to disclose health information, because the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and…

Workforce Bulletin

Video: Biden’s “American Rescue Plan,” Incentivizing Employee Vaccination, EEOC Conciliation Process – Employment Law This Week

By Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.

January 20, 2021

As featured in #WorkforceWednesday: This week, President Biden takes office, making combatting COVID-19 his top priority. Employers are also planning ways to incentivize employee vaccination. Video: YouTube, Vimeo.…

Workforce Bulletin

What’s in President-Elect Biden’s COVID-19 American Rescue Plan?

By Garen E. Dodge & Susan Gross Sholinsky

January 19, 2021

On January 14, 2021, President-elect Joe Biden released his $1.9 trillion emergency stimulus plan, designed primarily to guide the country through the next medical and economic stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The American Rescue Plan (“ARP”) also includes non-COVID-19 related proposals, such as a mandatory $15 per hour minimum wage and funding to improve cybersecurity. The following is a non-comprehensive overview of the ARP, which will require Congressional legislative passage. Checks to Individuals The ARP…

Health Law Advisor

First Reported FCA CARES Act Settlement Announced

By George B. Breen, Erica Sibley Bahnsen & Lauren Petrin

January 19, 2021

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on January 12, 2021, the first civil settlement to resolve allegations of fraud against the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.[1] SlideBelts Inc. and its president and CEO, Brigham Taylor, have agreed to pay the United States a combined $100,000 in damages and penalties for alleged violations of the False Claims Act (FCA) and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and…

Commercial Litigation Update

Le Morte d’Elvis: The Birth of New Claims as New York Statute Recognizes Post Mortem Right of Publicity

By James P. Flynn

January 19, 2021

Long before the birth of Elvis Presley in 1935, and even longer before his recent 86th birthday on January 8, 2021, King Arthur was the legendary king of choice, and his story was most completely told in Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory. Hence, we embrace the paraphrased allusion in the title above, to both Arthur and the King of Rock-n-Roll, who despite his absence from the public stage since 1977 remains a brand. Thus,…

Wage and Hour Defense Blog

California Supreme Court Concludes That Dynamex Applies Retroactively

By Michael S. Kun

January 19, 2021

As we have previously written here, the California Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court dramatically changed the standard for determining whether workers in California were properly classified as independent contractors, creating a new “ABC” test that has subsequently been codified as AB 5. A significant question left open was whether Dynamex would apply retroactively. In Vasquez v. Jan-Pro Franchising International, Inc., the California Supreme Court has concluded that Dynamex indeed…

Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.

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Podcast: The Biden Administration’s First 100 Days – Diagnosing Health Care

U.S. Department of Labor Issues New Opinion Letter Clarifying Independent Contractor Status

Less Than a Month After DOJ Brings Its First Wage-Fixing Indictment, DOJ Brings Its First “No-Poach” Indictment

DOJ False Claims Act Statistics 2020: Over 80% of All Recoveries Came from the Health Care Industry

How Big Can the Carrot Be? The EEOC’s New Proposed Rules Regarding Permissible Level of Incentives in Health-Contingent Workplace Wellness Programs

Video: Biden’s “American Rescue Plan,” Incentivizing Employee Vaccination, EEOC Conciliation Process – Employment Law This Week

What’s in President-Elect Biden’s COVID-19 American Rescue Plan?

First Reported FCA CARES Act Settlement Announced

Le Morte d’Elvis: The Birth of New Claims as New York Statute Recognizes Post Mortem Right of Publicity

California Supreme Court Concludes That Dynamex Applies Retroactively

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