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Employment Law Landscape

Mandatory Sexual Harassment Training and Other Sweeping #MeToo Protections to Take Effect in Illinois

By Julie Furer Stahr & Kyle Jacob on August 14, 2019

As the #MeToo movement continues to sweep the country, on August 9, 2019, Governor J.B. Pritzker signed into law Illinois Senate Bill 75 (now Public Act 101-0221) which will mandate statewide sexual harassment training for employers in Illinois and add other obligations and restrictions aimed at curbing sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace. Taking effect in just a few short months, the Act will require at least some policy, practice, and/or contracts revisions by…

Energy & Environmental Law Adviser

Emission Decreases Count: EPA Proposes Rule to Codify Approach to NSR Project Emissions Accounting

By Andrew N. Sawula on August 8, 2019

On August 9, 2019, the EPA plans to publish a proposed rule to codify the current interpretation of New Source Review (NSR) Project Emissions Accounting. The rule would explicitly allow consideration of emissions decreases from a project, alongside any emissions increases, when determining whether the project causes a significant emissions increase from the source. Historically, many state regulators, and even certain EPA applicability determinations, have suggested that only emissions increases (and not decreases) should be…

Employment Law Landscape

Amendments to the Illinois Equal Pay Act

By Gregory Dickinson & Lauren S. Novak on August 7, 2019

Documents with title Salary history ban.

Last week, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed into law several amendments to the Illinois Equal Pay Act that are certain to have wide-ranging impacts. Most significantly, Illinois will join the growing number of states that prohibit employers from asking about or considering a job applicant’s prior salary history when making hiring decisions. The amendments will also modify an exception to the equal pay requirement that, in certain circumstances, allows employers to pay different wages to…

Product Liability & Mass Torts Blog

California’s Prop 65 Amendments One Year Later: Litigation Trends and What to Look Out For

By Emilie McGuire, Alex Garel-Frantzen & Jeffrey D. Skinner on August 6, 2019

Blank Danger And Hazard Triangle Warning Sign Isolated Macro

Over the past 10 years, the number of private Proposition 65 actions against businesses have nearly quadrupled from 604 in 2009 to 2,364 in 2018. Additional Prop 65 regulations on “safe harbor” warnings and online retailers took effect last August, clarifying the duties of online retailers regarding warnings, which may have caused a decrease in new Prop 65 actions against online retailers. In light of the new rules and litigation trends, we examine which products…

Energy & Environmental Law Adviser

Going Beyond: When Can Courts Look Past the Record in an APA Review?

By James Cromley & J. Michael Showalter on July 31, 2019

Legal office of lawyers, justice and law concept : Wooden judge gavel or a wood hammer and a soundboard used by a judge person on a desk in a courtroom with a blurred brass scale of justice behind.

Regulated companies need to understand what material courts can consider when they review administrative decisions. The Administrative Procedure Act generally allows courts to consider only the existing administrative record when reviewing agency decision-making to determine whether agency decisions are arbitrary and capricious. But the Supreme Court recently reminded us that this rule is not absolute by looking beyond the record in Dep’t of Commerce v. New York to block an agency decision that it found…

Employment Law Landscape

Chicago Fair Workweek Law Set to Impose Sweeping Predictable Workweek Requirements

By Julie Furer Stahr & Kyle Jacob on July 26, 2019

Paper with weekly time sheet on a table.

On July 24, 2019, the Chicago City Council voted to pass the Fair Workweek Ordinance that will require covered employers to, among other things, provide employees with at least 10 days’ advance notice of their work schedules and provide additional compensation to employees for any unscheduled changes to their scheduled work hours. Mayor Lori Lightfoot publically supported and is expected to sign the ordinance, which will go into effect on July 1, 2020.…

Product Liability & Mass Torts Blog

I Can’t Get No Satisfaction: Illinois Revisits the Standard for Imposing Strict Liability on Nonmanufacturers

By James Cromley & Jonathan Judge on July 23, 2019

When a bulk container of vitamins tore and began to leak, it set into motion an unforeseen chain of events — beginning with the injury of Martin Cassidy and ending with an increased risk of strict liability for distributors of allegedly defective products. In an Illinois strict product liability action, the court must dismiss a distributor once that distributor certifies the identity of the product’s manufacturer. Previously, a plaintiff seeking to vacate such a dismissal…

Energy & Environmental Law Adviser

New York’s Landmark Climate Bill Creates Massive Investment Opportunities but with Few Details for Businesses

By Sarah A. W. Fitts, Jane E. Montgomery & Caitlin M. Ajax on July 18, 2019

aerial view of Lower Manhattan. New York

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo just signed into law an ambitious statewide climate change agenda – the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA). The CLCPA focuses on greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction through adoption of renewable energy and energy sector mandates for GHG reductions, although the legislation leaves open the exploration of other means of GHG reduction and the expansion to economy-wide regulation. The legislation also focuses on adaptation mechanisms, including hardening infrastructure to withstand…

Product Liability & Mass Torts Blog

Is Electric Scooter Safety Next on the Regulatory Menu?

By Mike Gentine & Derin Kiykioglu on July 9, 2019

A few years ago, hoverboards drew a lot of attention from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Formally known as self-balancing electric scooters, hoverboards became an instant success because they combined practical mobility and enjoyment. But that success was not without some setbacks. When news stories in 2015 linked hoverboards to fires (which we wrote about here), the same popularity that drove sales also attracted public and government scrutiny.…

Energy & Environmental Law Adviser

Supreme Court Punts Larger Key Administrative Deference Issues Until Later

By J. Michael Showalter & Alex Garel-Frantzen on June 27, 2019

A key building block of U.S. government is how administrative agencies interpret their own regulations. Because this question is so fundamental to the entire regulated community, we have blogged about administrative deference generally and the Kisor case specifically. The Supreme Court affirmed the long-standing judicial tenet of administrative deference to agencies’ interpretation of their own regulations this week. In doing so, however, the majority cautioned against a laissez faire application of deference, emphasizing that…

Schiff Hardin LLP

Schiff Hardin LLP Blogs

Blog Authors

Mandatory Sexual Harassment Training and Other Sweeping #MeToo Protections to Take Effect in Illinois

Emission Decreases Count: EPA Proposes Rule to Codify Approach to NSR Project Emissions Accounting

Amendments to the Illinois Equal Pay Act

California’s Prop 65 Amendments One Year Later: Litigation Trends and What to Look Out For

Going Beyond: When Can Courts Look Past the Record in an APA Review?

Chicago Fair Workweek Law Set to Impose Sweeping Predictable Workweek Requirements

I Can’t Get No Satisfaction: Illinois Revisits the Standard for Imposing Strict Liability on Nonmanufacturers

New York’s Landmark Climate Bill Creates Massive Investment Opportunities but with Few Details for Businesses

Is Electric Scooter Safety Next on the Regulatory Menu?

Supreme Court Punts Larger Key Administrative Deference Issues Until Later

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