When the current crisis has passed, businesses will reopen and people will leave the relative safety of home isolation. Some will get sick, and tragically some will die. The question is not whether there will be litigation, it is what will the ground rules be? So, imagine that you’re a Defendant on this imaginary docket, and ask yourself this, what are my possible defences?
To read the full post by Duane Morris partners Sharon Caffrey and Alex Geisler, please visit the Duane Morris London Blog.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) updated its guidance on April 23 on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and coronavirus, explaining that employers may screen employees for COVID-19. Any mandatory medical test must be job-related and consistent with business necessity, the EEOC explained. […]
Questions about testing are “increasingly on the minds of employers,” said Christopher Durham, an attorney with Duane Morris in Philadelphia. […]
In an April 17 update to the same guidance, the EEOC clarified what constitutes an undue hardship preventing an employer from reasonably accommodating an individual with a disability in a pandemic. The agency stated that “it may be significantly more difficult in this pandemic to conduct a needs assessment or to acquire certain items, and delivery may be impacted, particularly for employees who may be telecommuting.” […]
The factors impacting what constitutes an undue hardship are going to be motivated by a vastly different operational and financial reality for some businesses than was the case prior to the pandemic, said Linda Hollinshead, an attorney with Duane Morris in Philadelphia.
To read the full text of the article, including further commentary by Mr. Durham and Ms. Hollinshead, please visit the SHRM website.
Duane Morris LLP has joined the COVID Relief Coalition for Small Businesses and Nonprofits, a Massachusetts coalition of law firms, nonprofits and government agencies providing pro bono legal support, access to emergency loans and other sources of relief to small businesses and nonprofits impacted the COVID-19 pandemic.
To read the full text of this press release, please visit the firm website.
As America begins the process of reopening, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf announced the commonwealth’s plan to reopen in a press conference in the evening hours of April 22. Governor Wolf’s reopening plan establishes a three-phase, color-coded system―red, yellow and green―which determines when Pennsylvania counties and/or regions can begin easing current restrictions on work, congregate settings and social interactions.
To read the full text of this Duane Morris Alert, please visit the firm website.
The UK government and by extension the financial regulators have taken steps to show that they are cognisant of the fact that there will be a clear impact on UK companies’ ability to display the ‘normal’ forms of corporate governance and reporting in light of the COVID-19 disruption. While there is no suggestion that this period will be viewed as some kind of amnesty for poorly-governed businesses or for inappropriate reporting, the notion that there may be some flexibility in what is expected is beginning to filter through to company boards.
To read the full text of this article by Duane Morris attorney Thomas Rainey, please visit the Duane Morris London Blog.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported today that two pet cats at undisclosed locations in the State of New York are confirmed to be positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that characterizes the human disease COVID-19. These are the first cases of companion animals (pets) in the U.S. confirmed to have the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
To read the full text of this post by Duane Morris partner John Simpson, please visit the Duane Morris Animal Law Developments Blog.
On March 27, 2020, the bipartisan Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law. In order to encourage charitable contributions at this unprecedented time, the CARES Act made some valuable changes to the way those contributions are treated on your tax return.
To read the full text of this post by Duane Morris attorney Joanna Lardin, please visit the Duane Morris Private Client Services Blog.
In an effort to protect essential workers during the COVID-19 health crisis, the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission has issued an emergency rule. Effective April 16, 2020, all first responders and front-line workers asserting a workers’ compensation claim before the commission based on exposure to COVID-19 will be rebuttably presumed to have been exposed to the virus through their work and for their claim to have been caused by that exposure.
To read the full text of this Duane Morris Alert, please visit the firm website.
On April 21, 2020, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) published a notice that establishes a number of exemptions to the rule issued earlier in the month that generally prohibited the exportation of various kinds of essential medical products without FEMA’s approval. These new exemptions make it easier to export the covered medical products under certain circumstances, although several of the exemptions require that a special letter of attestation be submitted to FEMA before the goods can be exported from the United States.
To read the full text of this Duane Morris Alert, please visit the firm website.
Today, Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) Secretary Dennis Davin announced that the Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority (PIDA), Pennsylvania Minority Business Development Authority (PMBDA), and Commonwealth Financing Authority (CFA) are deferring loans and that the maturity dates and amortization schedules of all applicable loans are extended by three additional calendar months.
To read the full text of this post by partner Brad Molotsky, please visit the Duane Morris Project Development, Infrastructure and P3 Blog.
