Archives

New West Virginia law allows hiring preference for veterans

by Thomas S. Kleeh West Virginia will join the list of states that allow hiring preferences for veterans when a new law takes effect on June 22. House Bill 4507 was signed into law on March 24. Its purpose is to assist veterans and disabled veterans in securing employment. The new law amends the provisions […]

Success through rudeness and hostility

Silicon Valley’s third season is in full swing on HBO, which raised a question in my mind: if Michael Scott’s Dunder Mifflin warranted an entire blog from the FordHarrison crew, isn’t the Hacker Hostel’s Erlich Bachman at least due his own post? My answer: Of course he is! For the uninitiated, Silicon Valley is a […]

ERISA’s Impact on Data Breach Lawsuits

By Sandra R. Mihok, member, Eckert Seamans Attorneys at Law Health insurance companies have increasingly become the target of cyberattacks, a trend which has spurred a wave of class action lawsuits brought by individuals whose personal information has been breached.

Hospital Pays Millions for HIPAA Violations after Unauthorized Filming

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently reached a $2.2 million settlement with New York Presbyterian Hospital (NYP) for the egregious disclosure of two patients’ protected health information (PHI) to film crews and staff during the filming of “NY Med,” an ABC television series, without first obtaining authorization from the […]

Is a HIPAA Audit Coming Soon to a Workplace Near You?

By BLR Legal Editor Jennifer Carsen, JD As a part of its continued efforts to assess compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has begun a round of audits of covered entities and their business […]

Bad Hires: Are You Aware of the Risks?

Monster Worldwide, Inc. recently released the results of their Small Business, Big Hire survey. Conducted by Braun Research on behalf of Monster, the study found that nine in ten small business owners (89%) identify hiring the wrong person for a job as a risk to the company, with one-half (51%) saying it is a major […]

Make sure you’re not singing the ‘Summertime Blues’

by Teresa Shulda Summer will be here soon, and we’ll be car-dancing to the latest “summer jam.” During my time, the top summer hits were by music greats Madonna and Def Leppard. Whatever your favorite summer tunes are, it’s important to remember that summer brings lots of opportunities for employment law jams—and they aren’t the […]

Bad Hires, Bad for the Bottom Line

With the recent upward trend of the economy and new lows in unemployment, employers have fewer applicants for their job openings than they are comfortable with. What happens when they settle for a less-than-great employee?