Savannah Partner Kate Cappelmann was recently appointed to serve on two committees of the South Carolina Bar. She was selected to serve on the Practice and Procedure Committee, as well as the association's Diversity Committee for the 2021-2022 Board year.

Minneapolis Managing Partner Michelle R. Gilboe and Atlanta Managing Partner R. Scott Masterson will join a panel discussion titled "Big Law in the Civil Rights Trenches" at the National Bar Association's (NBA) Annual Corporate Counsel Leadership Summit, on Monday, July 26 at 3:40 p.m. ET.

In the last year, Colorado has, not surprisingly, experienced a dramatic increase in employment-related laws, rules, and regulations. Most recently, in June 2021, the Colorado Supreme Court issued a long-awaited ruling in the Nieto v. Clark’s Market matter, which concerns the forfeiture of vacation pay under the Colorado Wage Claim Act (CWCA). The court held that employers cannot implement policies that require employees to forfeit vacation pay that’s already been earned, even if they contract otherwise.

Fort Lauderdale Partner Robert Kritzman recently provided his perspectives to Seatrade Cruise News for a series of articles addressing significant COVID-19-related cruise industry lawsuits that are currently pending. The articles discuss a case in which a Florida district court lifted a conditional sailing order (CSO) that provided COVID-19-related safety and health guidelines for the cruise industry, and the court’s recent denial of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) motion to stay the CSO ruling.

Lewis Brisbois is pleased to welcome Rod Philip Sherman to its Charlotte office as a partner in its Workers’ Compensation Practice. In his role at Lewis Brisbois, Mr. Sherman will focus his practice on Workers’ Compensation defense matters.

Now that the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated government quarantines are hopefully in the rearview mirror, employers are faced with a whole new set of questions as they transition a remote workforce back to the office, including whether (and how) employers need to reimburse workers for mileage, or pay for commute time for non-exempt employees who have been working from home but are now returning to the office on a part-time or full-time basis.

In an unfortunate and costly shift for employers, the California Supreme Court ruled last week that meal and rest period premiums must be paid at employees’ regular rate of pay, rather than employees’ straight hourly wage. The California Labor Code already made explicitly clear that calculation of employees’ overtime wages must be at employees’ regular rate of pay. Unlike a straight hourly wage, the regular rate of pay includes all remunerations employees received during the applicable pay period, including non-discretionary incentive compensation and bonuses, shift differentials, commissions, mandatory service charges, meals provided to employees, and the like.

Los Angeles Partner and Chair of Lewis Brisbois’ Life Health Disability & ERISA Practice Elise D. Klein recently authored an article for the Daily Journal, titled “High Court Case Will Provide Guidance to ERISA Fiduciaries,” which discusses a matter in which the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to provide guidance to Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) fiduciaries concerning how to administer pension plans in a prudent manner.

In reaction to the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, which held that the prohibition against sex discrimination in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 extends to employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has provided its own informal guidelines outlining workplace protections for LGBTQ employees and job applicants.

Connecticut is part of the steady stream of states enacting more complicated and demanding data privacy and cybersecurity laws in 2021. The state joins Colorado and California in adding both a new privacy law and a new cybersecurity law. In this post, we review the key elements of Connecticut's Act Concerning Data Privacy Breaches and its Act Incentivizing the Adoption of Cybersecurity Standards for Businesses.

Now, more than ever, employers are faced with a nationwide outcry for greater transparency around pay equity and pay transparency, both from employees and potential customers. The Biden Administration certainly echoes these sentiments, and has expressed a desire to pass new pay equity and transparency laws on the federal level. However, numerous states and local governments are not inclined to wait for the federal government to act and have instead begun to pass their own pay equity and transparency laws.

New York Partner Alecia Walters-Hinds will speak at the upcoming annual Claims and Litigation Management Alliance (CLM) Conference in Atlanta on August 12, in a session titled “Defending a Client with a Big Name or a Bad Reputation Post-COVID-19."

Chicago Partner Mary Smigielski will join a free virtual presentation on Thursday, July 22 to discuss returning to work in a post-COVID-19 world. Hosted by Simple Laboratories, a clinically certified diagnostic laboratory that has been conducting COVID-19 tests throughout the pandemic, the webinar will begin at 6:00 p.m. CT.

New York Partner and National Co-Chair of Lewis Brisbois’ Entertainment, Media & Sports Practice Steven Beer and New York Partner Richard “Rip” Beyman recently spoke with Reuters for an article titled “Dealmaker Pair Sees Bigger Stage in Hop From Boutique to Lewis Brisbois.”

As the first COVID-19-related wrongful death matters make their way into appellate courts, Lewis Brisbois is on the frontline of a significant legal battle in the Third Circuit, with San Diego Partner and Vice-Chair of Lewis Brisbois’ Appellate Practice Lann G. McIntyre recently participating in oral argument on behalf of two New Jersey nursing homes.