Employment & Business Litigation Pointers - Volume II, No. 5

As a public service, we are pleased to present this issue of Employment & Business Litigation Pointers, which aims to provide our clients and subscribers with timely information and practical, business-oriented solutions to the latest employment and general business litigation developments.  In some jurisdictions, newsletters such as this may be considered: Attorney Advertising.
 
If you know of others who may wish to subscribe to this free publication, please feel free to forward it. If you wish to subscribe or unsubscribe, please do so at the bottom of this newsletter.

  A Note from Joseph S. Brown, Esq.

September means back to school, the changing of seasons, and the triumphant return of the Buffalo Bills to the football field!  Of course, we were hoping that we would no longer be writing about COVID-related employment law developments.  But here we are.  This edition of Employment & Business Litigation Pointers covers HERO Act requirements, vaccine mandates, and requests for telework as a disability accommodation.
 
The fall also marks the time when many recent law school graduates begin their legal career.  This month we welcomed five associates pending admission to the firm’s Insurance Coverage and General Litigation teams. Aarti Chandan has joined our general litigation team and will focus on premises liability, automobile liability and school district litigation. Mark Nesbitt has joined our business litigation practice group, and Kyle Ruffner, Hannah Cominsky and Franco Mirolo have joined our insurance coverage team. This is the largest hiring class we have ever had in the firm’s 44-year history, and is a testament that we are growing and remain committed to adding to our teams and increasing our capacity to serve our clients.  Welcome Aarti, Mark, Kyle, Hannah, and Franco!
 
We are also excited to announce that Hurwitz & Fine is participating in the Midsize Mansfield Rule Certification program. This national diversity certification is an 18-month rigorous process designed to increase the representation of diverse lawyers in leadership by broadening the pool of women, LGBTQ+ lawyers, lawyers with disabilities, and racial/ethnic minority lawyers who are considered for entry-level and lateral attorney job openings, leadership opportunities, equity partner promotions, and opportunities to connect with clients. This certification is another positive step we are taking as a firm toward achieving our goals of creating and maintaining a diverse team of attorneys to partner with our clients.
 
Finally, has your business completed its annual NYS sexual harassment prevention training?  Katie Wood and I are pleased to partner with the Cheektowaga Chamber of Commerce to provide this training on October 5, 2021 at 3:00 p.m.  For more details, click here.

HERO ACT UPDATE: What New York Employers Need to Know About Implementing Their Workplace Safety Plans

By Joseph S. Brown, Esq.

On Labor Day (September 6, 2021), Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the Commissioner of Health had designated COVID-19 a highly contagious communicable disease that presents a serious risk of harm to the public health under the New York Health and Essential Rights (“HERO”) Act.  The website for the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) was just updated with the following message: “This designation requires all employers to implement workplace safety plans.”

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President Biden Proposes New Federal Rule to Require Businesses with 100+ Employees to Mandate Vaccinations
By Joseph S. Brown, Esq.

On September 9, 2021, the White House issued Path Out of the Pandemic: President Biden’s COVID-19 Action Plan.  The Plan sets forth a six-pronged approach aimed at reducing “the number of unvaccinated Americans by using regulatory powers and other actions to substantially increase the number of Americans covered by vaccination requirements.”  Portions of the plan will impose new obligations on private employers with 100 or more employees.

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Telework as a Reasonable Accommodation During COVID: EEOC Takes a Stand

By Katherine L. Wood, Esq.

Determining whether to grant a particular accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) can be a tricky area for employers to navigate.  Adding COVID-19 considerations to the discussion has complicated matters even further.  Employers should take heed of a recent lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) when analyzing whether to grant or deny telework accommodations.

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Editor:
Joseph S. Brown, Esq.

Hurwitz & Fine's Labor & Employment team is here to
answer your questions:

Labor & Employment Law
Ann E. Evanko, Esq. ([email protected])
Andrea Schillaci, Esq. ([email protected])
Joseph S. Brown, Esq. ([email protected])
Amber E. Storr, Esq. ([email protected])
Katherine L. Wood, Esq.
 

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