COVID-19

Subscribe to COVID-19

By Karla Grossenbacher

Seyfarth Synopsis:  On May 11, 2023, the same day on which the federal government ended the national health emergency related to COVID-19, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a sweeping bill (SB 252) that prohibits businesses in Florida from discriminating in any way against a person based on vaccination status and from requiring face masks …

Continue Reading Florida Governor Signs into Law Sweeping Bill that Prohibits Businesses from Discriminating Based on Vaccination Status or from Requiring Face Masks and COVID-19 Tests

By Kayla King-Heyer and Dawn Reddy Solowey

Seyfarth Synopsis: We may be past the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, but decisions from COVID-19 vaccine litigation have the potential to affect far more than pandemic-specific employment practices.  The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently issued an opinion affirming the City of Boston’s power to impose certain health and safety policies on…

Continue Reading SJC Weighs in on Fiery Debate Over COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates
iStock - CalPECs COVID-19

By Ilana Morady, Patrick D. Joyce, Coby Turner, Liz Watson and Juan Rehl-Garcia 

Seyfarth Synopsis: Two big changes are on the horizon for California employers:
(1) changes to the COVID-19 general exposure notification requirements and (2) a proposed “permanent” Cal/OSHA COVID-19 standard to take effect January 1, 2023-2025.

The fall season signals change between the…

Continue Reading Changes Coming to CA COVID-19 Requirements

By Dawn Reddy Solowey, A. Scott Hecker, Coby Turner and James J. Swartz, Jr.

Seyfarth Synopsis: Despite President Biden’s recent declaration that the COVID-19 pandemic is over, litigation concerning employer vaccine mandates continues as employers face hurdles to ensure workplace safety and compliance with government mandates.

Here we take a closer look at issues companies are…

Continue Reading New Frontier in COVID-19 Vaccine Litigation

By Adam R. Young, Melissa A. Ortega, A. Scott Hecker, James L. Curtis, Brent I. Clark, Benjamin D. Briggs, Patrick D. Joyce, and Craig B. Simonsen

Seyfarth Synopsis: On August 11, 2022, the CDC, through a press release, eased its COVID-19 guidance to “help us move to a point where COVID-19 no longer …
Continue Reading CDC Eases COVID-19 Guidelines

By Samantha L. Brooks, Karla Grossenbacher, and A. Scott Hecker

Seyfarth Synopsis: On July 12, 2022, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued updated guidance for employers on the interplay of workplace bias laws and COVID-19 workplace testing, vaccinations, and other return-to-work issues, including reasonable accommodations and access to employees’ confidential medical information.  Employers continue to face these …
Continue Reading In Policy Pivot, EEOC Revises Pandemic Guidance To Move Away From A “Direct Threat” Analysis and Focus on “Business Necessity” As Employers Return Employees To The Workplace

DOL’s 2023 Priorities, Per Labor Secretary Marty Walsh. Additional personnel topped Labor Secretary Marty Walsh’s wish list for 2023 as he laid out next year’s proposed budget at a hearing in front of the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies. During the hearing, Secretary Walsh was candid: “To be completely honest, I need more…
Continue Reading Seyfarth Policy Matters Newsletter – May 20, 2022

By Adam R. Young, Brent I. Clark, and Craig B. Simonsen

Seyfarth Synopsis: Federal OSHA is rolling out an aggressive COVID-19 enforcement program to inspect “high hazard” employers, as well as re-inspect those healthcare employers who have received COVID-19 complaints in the past. 

In March 2022 at the ABA OSHA conference, OSHA enforcement leadership publicly declared the “COVID-19…
Continue Reading COVID-19 “Endemic” is Not Over: OSHA is Opening New COVID-19 Programmed Inspections

By Benjamin D. Briggs, A. Scott Hecker, Adam R. Young, and Craig B. Simonsen

Seyfarth Synopsis: CDC’s new COVID-19 Quarantine and Isolation calculator “takes the stress out of deciding when, and for how long, individuals with COVID-19 and close contacts need to stay home, get tested, and wear a well-fitting mask.”

The new CDC calculator may…
Continue Reading CDC Publishes New Quarantine and Isolation Calculator

By Chantelle C. Egan, Bernard Olshansky, Patrick D. Joyce, and Ilana Morady

Seyfarth Synopsis: On February 28, 2022, California’s Governor Newsom issued a press release lifting California’s mask requirements for unvaccinated individuals in indoor settings, downgrading the former requirement to a strong recommendation, effective March 1, 2022.  The same day, the California Department of Public Health …
Continue Reading California Loosens Indoor Masking Requirements for the Unvaccinated