California recently enacted Assembly Bill 5, which dramatically alters the legal standard for evaluating whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor.

Recent trends show that federal and state governments and the private insurance industry are all very concerned about the reduction of healthcare fraud, abuse, and waste, and are engaged in aggressive enforcement actions against healthcare providers alleged to have engaged in fraudulent activities.

In Chung v. Shaw, 2019 NY Slip Op 06468 (2d Dept. 2019), decided on September 11, 2019, New York’s Appellate Division, Second Department, increased a jury award for past and future pain and suffering from $25,000 to $250,000. The total pain and suffering award is notably low for a fusion surgery in New York appellate jurisprudence on the question of sustainable “reasonable compensation.”

We are pleased to report a significant Court of Appeals decision on the scope of the physician-patient privilege in New York that we anticipate will impact discovery disputes and cross-examination at trial going forward. This successful appeal was handled by New York Trial & Appellate Partners Nicholas P. Hurzeler and Sydney S. Sanchez.
 

It’s not often that we get to advise on reasonable compliance developments out of California. So, we are happy to report that on August 30, 2019, Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill 778 into law which delays the expanded sexual harassment training requirements applicable to employers with five or more employees in California.

As hurricane season begins and Florida braces for Hurricane Dorian, companies impacted by this year’s hurricanes face a host of employment law concerns, including significant challenges maintaining compliance with wage and hour laws. This alert provides general guidance about those issues under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has held that Illinois Facebook users may bring claims for privacy violations under state law for the use and storage of biometric information on the company’s platforms and servers. 

New York’s Child Victims Act (CVA) takes effect today after having been signed by Governor Cuomo on February 14, 2019. The CVA makes it much easier for childhood sexual assault survivors to file suit by, among other things, allowing victims the right to file suit against sexual assault perpetrators and their institutional employers, based upon a theory of negligence or intentional conduct.