By Tonya M. Esposito, Renee B. Appel, and Jonathan Huie Seyfarth Synopsis: CBD is “thriving” in the current regulatory environment, but is it doing so illegally? As former U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb opined last week, “the CBD craze is getting out of hand. The FDA needs to act.” Since the passage of the Farm Bill in December of 2018, there has been a marked uptick in…

By Christine Hendrickson, Annette Tyman, and Rhandi Childress Anderson Seyfarth Synopsis: On July 31, 2019, the Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed HB0834 into law, amending the state’s Equal Pay Act.  The amendments toughen the state’s pay equity protections and includes a salary history ban, among other provisions.  This adds Illinois to the growing list of states barring employers from inquiring about an applicant’s salary history.  Former Governor Bruce Rauner vetoed previous attempts to…

By Minh Vu, Kristina Launey, and Susan Ryan Seyfarth Synopsis: Data from the first six months of 2019 shows a 12%  increase over 2018. The task of counting the number of ADA Title III lawsuits filed in federal courts grows with the ever-increasing numbers of lawsuits.  For the period from January 1, 2019 through June 30, 2019, our research team counted 5,592 ADA Title III lawsuits filed in federal court, versus 4,965 filed…

By John P. Phillips, Joshua D. Seidman, and Tracy M. Billows Seyfarth Synopsis:  On Wednesday, July 24, 2019, approximately one week before San Antonio’s paid sick leave ordinance was scheduled to go into effect for most employers, a Texas state court stayed implementation of the city’s paid sick leave ordinance until at least December 1, 2019.  In the meantime, the Dallas paid sick leave ordinance remains scheduled to go into effect on August…

By Eric W. May and Daniel C. Whang Seyfarth Synopsis: In Biel v. St. James School, the Ninth Circuit once again split from other circuit courts, this time by narrowly construed an affirmative defense known as the “ministerial exception” that bars claims of employment discrimination brought by ministerial employees of religious institutions. The Ninth Circuit recently denied the request for a rehearing en banc, entrenching its departure from other circuits on the ministerial exception.…

By Phillip J. Ebsworth and Jennifer L. Mora Seyfarth Synopsis: While employees often will toot their own horn, employers sometimes may have concerns about their ability to safely perform their job. If this situation rings a bell, it will be music to your ears to hear that it may be possible to request employees to undergo a medical examination to certify their fitness for duty. Fitness for duty examinations are permitted under both the federal…