In December 2020, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Neeraj Jindal, the former owner of a therapist staffing company, for participating in a price-fixing conspiracy to lower the rates paid to physical therapists and their assistants in north Texas. The case avoided its first challenge in late November 2021. when a federal district court in Sherman, Texas declined to grant the defendants’ motion to Read More
Court Dismisses Former Employee’s COBRA Claims
In McKenna v. ZO Skin Health, Inc., 2021 WL 4078291 (N.D. Ohio 2021), an employee sued two of her employers and their third party administrators (“TPA”) after she was denied coverage under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (“COBRA”). After a cancer diagnosis, plaintiff Vicki McKenna elected COBRA after being terminated by her employer, PuraCap Pharmaceutical LLC (“PuraCap”). In April 2018, Read More
CMS Rule Requires Vaccinations of Health Care Employees
In November 2021, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its long-awaited and highly anticipated interim final rule (IFR) requiring health care workers to be vaccinated for the COVID-19 virus. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) also released its emergency temporary standard requiring vaccination or weekly testing for the COVID-19 virus for employers with 100 employees Read More
House Introduces Retirement Reform Bill
The chairman and ranking member of the House Education and Labor Committee has introduced bipartisan legislation that partially overlaps the SECURE Act 2.0. In early November, committee Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA); Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), the committee’s ranking Republican; Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee; and Rep. Rick Allen Read More
Employer May Terminate Employee After Remedial Action for FMLA Noncompliance
In Watson v. Drexel University, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that an employer may terminate an employee for taking unauthorized leave after the employer had corrected an earlier mistake in its Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) certification requirements. In Watson, an employee requested authorization for FMLA leave for personal illness after providing the required medical certification. Read More
Mercy Health Agrees To $4M Deal in Retirement Fund Fight
The parties in Hill v. Mercy Health Corp. (N.D. Ill.) reached a settlement agreement in a case where the plaintiffs accused the defendants of mishandling their retirement savings. Parties in the class action lawsuit reported that the parties have reached a $3.9 million settlement in the suit brought under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The plaintiffs filed a motion for preliminary approval of Read More
Second Interim Final Rule Published Regarding IDR Process Under the No Surprise Act
In late September 2021, the Departments of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), Labor and Treasury, and the Office of Personnel Management (collectively, the “Departments”) published the second interim final rule implementing certain provisions of the No Surprises Act (“Part II of the IFR”). Part II of the IFR addresses critical components of the No Surprises Act (the “Act”) that were not addressed in the Read More
States Argue Employer Vaccine Mandate Disregards Constitutional RIghts
The three states in the Eleventh Circuit, Georgia, Florida, and Alabama, as well as several private employers, petitioned the Eleventh Circuit in State of Florida et al. v. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, (Case No. 21-13866), to review the federal government's employer vaccine mandate. The petition alleges that the policy demonstrates a disregard for constitutional rights by the Biden Administration. Read More
December 2021 | HBL Makes West Coast Splash, Adds Koehler to Team
Click here to read our December 2021 newsletter! Read More
No Clear Winners in Lawsuit over Employee Stock Ownership Plan
In GunBroker.com, LLC v. Tenor Capital Partners, LLC, (N.D. Ga.), an online firearms marketplace sued a financial advisory firm claiming that it provided an inaccurate enterprise valuation. The plaintiff was in the process of creating an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) and sought the valuation from the defendant. The complaint included allegations of breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, and Read More
