Five Employment Law Issues for Risk Managers Throughout 2016
By: Don Benson, Esq. Risk Managers can expect to be confronted in the remainder of 2016 with five growing trends in employment law that require organizational attention and planning: Protecting Trade Secrets Protecting your competitive edge is
Georgia Appeals Court Narrow Justification for Workers’ Comp. Denial
Written by: Melanie V. Slaton, Esq. The recent decision of Burdette v. Chandler Telecom, LLC, 335 Ga App 190 (2015), is instructive and explored what constitutes an “employee’s willful misconduct ” in the workers’ compensation context
Fourth Circuit To Decide If Commercial General Liability Policy Covers Internet Publication of Medical Records
Written by: Tiffany Winks, Esq. On March 24, 2015, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments as to whether a Commercial General Liability insurance policy provides coverage for a data breach. The case on appeal is Travelers In
Assisted Living Facility Miss-Classifies Employees As Independent Contractors: Owes $56,000.00 To Nine Employees
Written by: Don Benson, Esq. The U.S. Labor Department announces in a March 16, 2016 press release that a Tampa assisted living facility must pay more than $56K in back wages to nine employees. Two employees were miss-classified as indepe
Tennessee Amends Breach Notification Statute
Written by: Richard Sheinis, Esq. Senate Bill 2005, amending Tennessee’s data breach notification law, was signed by the Governor on March 24, 2016. The new law is effective July 1, 2016. The main changes to the current law (Tennessee Code An
Proportionality and Cost-Shifting Provisions In The New Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
Written by: Sean Cox, Esq. On December 1, 2015, significant changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure went into effect, including two that deal with proportionality and cost-shifting. Typically, there is asymmetry between the amount of di
It Pays to be Ready: HIPAA Phase II Audits Underway Now
Written by: Patrick Powell, Esq. On March 21, 2016, the HHS Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) officially launched Phase 2 of the HIPAA Audit Program. Covered Entities and Business Associates need to be prepared for these audits and be on th
If This Does Not Convince You Of The Importance Of HIPAA Compliance, Nothing Will
By: Richard Sheinis, Esq. Two medical providers recently paid large settlements to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights because of HIPAA violations. Both involved thefts of laptops, an issue I see with some reg
Update on Florida v. Georgia
Written by: Scott Cole The March 8 status conference in Florida v Georgia indicates that the Special Master is growing tired of massive discovery rather than settlement efforts. The parties are still disputing burden of proof issues and rel
New EEOC Lawsuits Seek to Expand Title VII to Protect Sexual Orientation
By Don Benson The EEOC has filed two new cases alleging sex discrimination based on sexual orientation: • In EEOC v. Scott Medical Health Center, P.C., (W.D. Pa., No. 2:16-cv-00225-CB, filed March 1, 2016). The EEOC sued Scott Medical Healt