Healthcare companies may need to be mindful that the federal government has started investigating and prosecuting referral-based arrangements for private insurance claims under the Travel Act and the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act.

In March 2022, in response to Russia’s actions in the Ukraine conflict, the Biden Administration along with the governments of Austria, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the European Commission created the Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs (REPO) task force. The REPO task force – consisting of the justice and finance ministers in each member nation – have seized or begun forfeiture proceedings with respect to more than $30 billion worth of assets.

A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia has dramatically changed the landscape for employers to litigate against personal injury and wrongful death claims by employees. In a recent matter, the plaintiff brought a deliberate intent action under West Virginia Code § 23-4-2 against his employers for injuries that he allegedly suffered while working as a coal miner. He contended that the injuries were caused by unsafe workplace and dangerous mining activities.

On July 22, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued two new Russia-related General Licenses (GLs) authorizing certain financial transactions that are otherwise prohibited under U.S. sanctions laws and regulations. These general licenses grant U.S. persons and financial institutions greater latitude in settling Russian foreign sovereign debt through the wind down of agreements and participation in a credit default swap auction, respectively. The new measures follow Russia’s alleged default on a sovereign bond in June 2022 (caused by payment in rubles rather than U.S. dollars) and will help U.S. investors wind down their financial commitments and settle certain credit default swaps.

On July 19, 2022, the California Court of Appeal issued an opinion in Meda v. AutoZoners, Inc. that further defined an employer’s obligation to “provide” its employees with suitable seating pursuant to the Industrial Welfare Commissions’ Wage Orders. The Court of Appeal reversed the trial court’s granting of summary judgment, holding that where an employer has not expressly advised its employees of the availability of seating, and where the employer has not provided a seat at a workstation, the question of whether an employer has provided suitable seating is fact-intensive and not subject to summary judgment.

Reacting to concerns that U.S. sanctions could be viewed as impeding exports or global transactions related to urgently needed food, fertilizer, agricultural equipment, or medical supplies, on July 14, 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a fact sheet clarifying that “agricultural and medical trade are not targets” of U.S. sanctions.

On April 28, 2022, the New York Court of Appeals issued three significant decisions that chip away at the formerly impenetrable ladder cases that arise under New York Labor Law § 240(1). Less than a week later, Lewis Brisbois, relying on one of these decisions, successfully defeated a plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on a Labor Law § 240(1) claim in Bronx County.

On July 8, 2022, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti signed an ordinance approving a raise to the minimum wage for employees of “covered healthcare facilities” in the City of Los Angeles to $25.00 per hour. The ordinance will go into effect on August 7, 2022 and provides for further annual increases to the minimum wage, beginning on January 1, 2024.