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Significant Changes to COVID-19 Leave Provisions After Court Vacates Some DOL Regulations Interpreting Paid Leave Under the FFCRA

Judge J. Paul Oetken of the Southern District of New York found the United States Department of Labor exceeded its authority when it limited eligibility to leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. The decision affects employers in New York (unless the court issues a stay pending appeal) and vacates the definition of “health care provider” and provisions regarding leave eligibility if an employer does not have work for the employee, intermittent leave approval of the employer and providing leave documentation prior to taking FFCRA leave.

To read the full text of this Duane Morris Alert, please visit the firm website.

 

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New Jersey Makes $25M CARES Funds Available for Certain Small Landlords

On August 7, 2020, Governor Murphy announced the Small Landlord Emergency Grant (SLEG) Program, which will reimburse small residential rental property owners for lost rent revenue due to COVID-19 between April and July 2020. The program is structured to pass the benefit on to their tenants by requiring forgiveness of certain outstanding back rent and late fees.  The rent forgiveness is in exchange for landlords receiving these funds from the state

To read the full text of this post by Duane Morris partner Brad Molotsky, please visit the Duane Morris Project Development/Infrastructure/P3 Blog.

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Mexico’s Auto Industry Outlook in the New Era of the USMCA and COVID-19

The automotive industry in North America is undergoing a time of unprecedented change as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) effective July 1, 2020. On top of the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the North American auto industry must contend with new rules of origin, labor value content (LVC) mandates, and steel and aluminum content requirements that are set forth in the new USMCA.

A recent webinar by the international business magazine Mexico Now examined how these issues are affecting the Mexican automotive industry in particular. During this webinar, valuable insights were provided by key industry figures. To read the full text of this Alert, which includes our summary of the webinar, please visit the firm website.

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Pennsylvania Making $10.5M Available for Career and Technical Education Centers

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf is dedicating approximately $10.5 million in equity grants to Career and Technical Education Centers (CTC) to assist them in implementing public health and safety plans and help them to resume operations.

To read the full text of this post by Duane Morris partner Brad Molotsky, please visit the Duane Morris Project Development/Infrastructure/P3 Blog.

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Dubai International Airport Deploys COVID-19 Detecting Sniffer Dogs

A study conducted by the National Veterinary School in Alfort, France, suggested that dogs trained in some form of olfactory detection, such as explosives or narcotics, could be trained to detect, with reasonable accuracy, the SARS-CoV-2 virus in samples of human axillary perspiration (underarm sweat), thus suggesting the potential of sniffer dogs as a screen for the COVID-19 disease.  That approach has been deployed at the Dubai International Airport (DXB).

To read the full text of this post by Duane Morris partner John Simpson, please visit the Duane Morris Animal Law Developments Blog.

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Reimbursement Rate for Out-of-Network Emergency Services: Executive Order Potentially Sets Precedent

On April 9, 2020, Governor Baker issued an emergency order, mandating that insurers cover all medically necessary emergency department and inpatient services costs of COVID-19 treatment at both out-of-network and in-network hospitals and other medical facilities, without any cost to the patient, setting the OON reimbursement rate at 135% of Medicare, and prohibiting providers from balance billing. The Governor appears to have relied on § 7 of the Massachusetts emergency preparedness and response law in issuing the Order.  Section 7 gives the Governor broad powers during a state of emergency, including “[r]egulation of the business of insurance and protection of the interests of the holders of insurance policies and contracts and of beneficiaries thereunder and of the interest of the public in connection therewith.”

To read the full text of this post by Duane Morris attorney Emmy Monahan, please visit the Duane Morris Health Law Blog.

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Oral Argument on Potential Consolidation of Business Interruption Coverage Cases Related to COVID-19

On July 30, the Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation (the Panel) heard oral argument of extraordinary length on the potential consolidation of all the federal cases involving business interruption coverage relating to COVID-19 and/or the COVID-19 shut-down orders.  There are some 449 such federal cases, approximately 200 of which are putative class actions.

To read the full text of this post by Duane Morris partner Damon Vocke, please visit the Duane Morris Insurance Law Blog.

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FINRA Extends Postponement of In-Person Arbitration and Mediation Hearings

By Walter Saurack and James Regan

Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, FINRA has extended the postponement of all in-person arbitration and mediation hearings scheduled through September 4, 2020.  Parties may opt to proceed telephonically or by Zoom or panels may order that that the hearings will take place telephonically or by Zoom.  Hearing postponement will not affect other case deadlines. All case deadlines will continue to apply and must be timely met unless the parties jointly agree otherwise.  FINRA staff will contact affected parties to reschedule or discuss remote scheduling options.

FINRA will also waive postponement fees if parties who have an in-person hearing scheduled from September 7 through December 31, 2020 stipulate to adjourn that hearing.  To avoid postponement fees, parties must provide written notice of the stipulation to adjourn more than 20 days prior to the first scheduled hearing date.

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The opinions expressed on this blog are those of the author and are not to be construed as legal advice.

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