Section 280G of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) applies to so-called "golden parachute payments," which generally are made when a corporation experiences a change in control. Under this section, disqualified individuals who receive excess parachute payments must pay a 20% excise tax on those payments, and the corporation loses the deduction for those payments. Parachute payments are payments contingent on a Read More
Amazon Allegedly Fires Worker with Long COVID and Bills Her for Salary Overpayment
Brittany Hope, a former full-time brand manager for Amazon, has filed suit against the company in a New York federal district court. Hope claims that the retail giant wrongfully terminated her for “job abandonment” in July 2020 after taking medical leave for developing long-term health complications from a COVID-19 infection. She also claims that Amazon violated state and federal disability laws and state labor laws Read More
Amendment to Group Health Plan Fee Disclosure Rules Can Reduce Plan Costs
Plan fiduciaries have a duty under ERISA to pay only a reasonable amount for services provided to the plan. When a group health plan offers insurance, service providers may receive commissions directly from the insurance company rather than from the plan. This arrangement can make it difficult for plan fiduciaries to determine what they paid the service provider and whether that fee was reasonable. The purpose of Read More
State Level Paid Sick Leave Mandates Continue to Expand
An increasing number of states have passed laws requiring employers to provide their employees with varying amounts of paid sick leave. Employers operating in multiple states or expanding to new states need to be aware of the common features of these individual state laws as well as their differences. States Currently Requiring Employers to Provide Paid Sick Leave Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Read More
Major Delays For No Surprises Act Arbitration Cases
In mid-April 2022, the U.S. Department for Health and Human Services (HHS) officially opened its out-of-network payment dispute resolution portal under the No Surprises Act. This portal is the mechanism that many providers and payers must use to settle cases in certain circumstances. Some states have set up their own dispute resolution processes, and self-insured plans in those states must use the HHS portal, unless Read More
Mercedes-Benz USA Employee Drops OT Pay Violation Suit Stemming from Kronos Hack
A Mercedes-Benz USA LLP veteran employee has dismissed his proposed class action lawsuit against his employer without prejudice. James Click, who has worked for Mercedes-Benz since 1996, filed suit against the company for failing to pay workers overtime pay after its Kronos payroll system fell victim to a ransomware attack in December 2021. Click gave no indication why he was dismissing his claims in his notice of Read More
Judge Partially Dismisses GA Chicken Plant’s $2M Claims Against Insurer
A Georgia federal district court granted partial summary judgment in favor of an insurer for a Georgia chicken processing plant where six workers died due to a liquid nitrogen leak. The case is Foundation Food Group Inc. et al. v. Selective Way Insurance Co., case number 2:21-cv-00207, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. The court ruled that the plant owners, Foundation Food Group Inc., and Read More
Federal Court Permits Ex-Fire Chief’s Whistleblower Claims to Move Forward against GA City
A federal district court judge will allow a former fire chief to pursue wrongful termination claims against a Georgia city. The claims allege that the city violated the former employee’s First Amendment rights and state whistleblower laws. The judge dismissed various other claims pursuant to the city’s motion to dismiss. The case is Owens v. Propes et al., case number 3:21-cv-00084, U.S. District Court for the Middle Read More
Same-Sex Couple Files EEOC Charge Against NYC Over Denial of IVF Benefits
A same-sex male couple recently filed a class discrimination charge with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against the city of New York for refusing in vitro fertilization (IVF) benefits offered to other city workers. The couple alleges that the city violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and state and local civil rights laws when it denied these benefits to Corey Briskin, a former city Read More
CA Appellate Court Rejects Uber’s Arbitration Agreement for PAGA Claims
A California appellate court has upheld the decision of a trial court to deny Uber’s petition to compel arbitration in a case involving the worker misclassification of a former Uber Eats driver. According to the court, an agreement that the driver signed waiving the right to bring a claim under California's Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), is unenforceable, since such claims belong to the state, not to the Read More
