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The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers California, has released a controversial new opinion suggesting that the Americans with Disabilities Act protects misconduct stemming from a disability as part and parcel of the disability itself. The case involved Stephanie Gambini, an employee of Total Renal Care, Inc, who suffered from bipolar disorder. Gambini […]
By Jason Lacey Foulston Siefkin LLP The legal underpinnings of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on healthcare reform are complex, but the bottom line is very clear for employers: Nothing has changed. The law that went into effect March 23, 2010 (the Affordable Care Act, or ACA), and has been in effect ever since, remains […]
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have put transit parity — that is, the equalization of mass transit and qualified parking benefits under tax Code Section 132 — back in play, after watching it fail earlier in the session. The legislation would extend a temporary parity provision that expired Dec. 31, 2011, for another two years. Sen. […]
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reports that the number of cases involving sexual harassment and retaliation is increasing. Retaliationclaims, the fastest-growing type of complaint filed with the EEOC, have gone up more than 77% between 1992 and 1999. A total of 11,096 retaliation charges were filed in 1992, but by 1999, the number had jumped […]
When Eugene Quinn applied to be a Los Angeles police officer, he failed the medical exam because of a hearing impairment. But due to a clerical error, he was told to report for further training exams, which he passed. Quinn graduated from the police academy and was assigned to patrol duty before his hearing problem […]
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is refocusing its HIPAA privacy enforcement efforts on seeking monetary penalties in cases of “abject failure” to comply, the head of HHS’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) indicated. “The majority of matters we handle are going to be resolved through education” as they have in the […]
Days after President Barack Obama released his own health care reform proposal, he presided over a health care reform summit on Thursday that both Democrats and Republicans attended. The summit was supposed to help the parties find common ground on the issue of health care reform and allow them to discuss their views. Although the […]
Federal agencies just issued new final rules for contingency-based wellness program goals under health reform. If employers offer to give a reward (such as discounted health insurance premiums) to workers who accomplish some kind of biometric goal (a contingency standard), then employers must have a standing “reasonable alternative” to the contingency-based standard, government officials told […]
Adding momentum to federal agencies’ ongoing initiatives to crack down on employee misclassification, the U.S. House and Senate have introduced legislation intended to curtail the misclassification of employees as independent contractors. The Employee Misclassification Prevention Act, introduced April 22, would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to impose additional compliance and record-keeping requirements on […]
In the largest corporate bankruptcy in the nation’s history, thousands of Enron employees lost their retirement savings after the company stock invested in their 401(k) plans became worthless. Now, in the wake of Enron’s collapse, Congress is considering a raft of legislation to reform 401(k) plan rules.