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Keith A. Ashmus

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Feel like the government shutdown has reduced news coming out of the federal administrative agencies? If so, January 17, 2019 likely provided a spark to your week. Last Thursday, National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) Chairman John Ring issued a letter which served as the most-recent move in the NLRB’s joint employer dance. In his letter, Chairman Ring responded to the request of two U.S. House of Representatives Democrats that the NLRB withdraw its proposed joint…
Administering payroll for employees with variable work schedules and hourly rates can cause major headaches for employers. In an effort to simplify and reduce administrative costs, employers are oftentimes tempted to set a standard overtime rate to be paid at a set dollar amount to all employees regardless of variations in compensation rates and actual weekly compensation earned. However, as a recent Department of Labor Opinion Letter explains, employers must adhere to the FLSA’s overtime…
Although some departing employees are willing to risk violating their non-competes when they leave a company, a recent court decision reinforced one of the significant dangers that those employees can face in doing so. In this decision, a federal appeals court in Ohio ruled that a former employee who violates a non-compete can be forced to pay the employer’s legal fees, even if the former employer does not prevail on all of the issues raised.…
On September 14, 2018, the National Labor Relations Board published a new proposed rule that attempts to reverse the joint-employer rule created in the Board’s Browning-Ferris Industries decision of 2015. (Browning-Ferris Industries of California, Inc., 362 NLRB No. 186 (2015). On December 10, 2018, the Board issued a notice that it was extending until January 14, 2019, the deadline for submitting comments to the proposed rule, and extending until January 22, 2019, the deadline for…
Medical Marijuana
A stock photo of some Medical Marijuana Buds.
The Ohio medical marijuana industry is ready to go live, with most of the pieces in place to complete the regulatory structure passed by the Ohio General Assembly in September of 2016. However, like the medical marijuana industry in general, the Ohio market will have a difficult time accessing banking services. This is because while marijuana may be legal under state law, it is still illegal under federal law, and thus banks are reluctant to…
legalization-go-feds-09-01
Frantz Ward attorneys Tom Haren and Pat Haggerty attended the Marijuana Business Conference this past November. Tom was a presenter at the Marijuana Business Crash Course, and Pat attended the Hemp Forum. The biggest takeaway from the conference is that 2019 could be a banner year for cannabis in Ohio and nationwide. Hemp reform is moving forward. It has now been confirmed that the 2018 Farm Bill will include the federal Hemp Farming Act, which…
In today’s day and age, it is widely understood that no one is safe from a data breach.  If you have been so fortunate as to escape fraudulent credit card purchases, data security breaches, or having your entire identity stolen, cybersecurity experts will tell you that is no longer a matter of “if,” but “when” it will happen to you.  In response to national and international cybersecurity incidents during the past few years, state legislators…
Hardhat.
In what should be viewed as a victory for employers, the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently issued a decision limiting the scope of OSHA inspections. United States v. Mar-Jac Poultry, Inc., No. 16-17745 (11th Cir. 2018). In February 2016, an employee at Mar-Jac’s poultry processing facility was severely burned and hospitalized after attempting to repair an electrical panel.  Within days of Mar-Jac reporting the injury to OSHA, OSHA compliance…
  Last week, a closely-watched trial involving a Colorado cannabis cultivator sued by a neighbor ended with a jury finding in the cultivator’s favor. In Reilly v. 6480 Pickney, LLC, the Reillys complained that their property’s value had decreased due to odor emitted from the cultivator’s property (an unfortunate, if not new, problem in legal cannabis markets) and increased crime in the area. Rather than file a state based standard nuisance claim, however, the Reillys filed claims…
On October 11, 2018, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) issued a memorandum clarifying its position regarding safety incentive programs and post-incident drug testing. Two years ago, in October 2016, OSHA issued a memorandum that prohibited drug testing employees who reported injuries or illness unless there was an “objectively reasonable basis” for doing so. The rationale was that blanket post-accident drug and alcohol testing violated OSHA’s anti-retaliation provisions. OSHA’s prior guidance also implied that…