Workplace Safety and Environment

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By Bernard Olshansky and Patrick D. Joyce

Seyfarth Synopsis: Expanding a law enacted in 2022, New York’s legislature passed another bill that seeks to limit warehouse-related injuries by requiring employers to establish and implement an injury reduction program, evaluate certain jobs for ergonomic injury risks, correct risk factors, and provide injury reduction training.

Background: New York State’s Commitment to Warehouse…

Continue Reading New Bill Seeks to Provide New York State Warehouse Workers with Additional Injury Protections

By Rachel Bernasconi, Paul Cutrone, Marissa Dreher, Ben Dudley, Chris Gardner, Erin Hawthorne, Justine Giuliani, Sarah Goodhew, Philippa Noakes, Darren Perry, Penny Stevens, Henry Skene and Michael Tamvakologos

Seyfarth just celebrated ten years of service to leading employers in Australia. To mark the occasion, we invited some of our partners…

Continue Reading A Decade in Australia: Seyfarth’s Partners Reflect on Changes in Employment and Workplace Safety Law

By Erin Dougherty Foley and James Nasiri*

Seyfarth Synopsis: On February 11, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed a district court order granting a steel producer’s motion for summary judgment on disability discrimination claims filed by a job applicant whose conditional offer was rescinded. The Court’s ruling offers valuable insights into an employer’s duties …
Continue Reading Seventh Circuit Finds that Steel Worker with Uncontrolled Seizure Disorder Would Pose a Direct Threat to Workplace Safety

By Mark L. Johnson, Mark A. Lies, II, Adam R. Young, and Craig B. Simonsen

Seyfarth Synopsis: After a Sangamon County Circuit Court temporarily blocked the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission’s (IWCC) emergency rule that created a rebuttable presumption that injured employees contracted COVID-19 at work, the IWCC repealed the emergency rules.

Infectious diseases transmitted in the…
Continue Reading Illinois Worker’s Compensation Emergency Rules Establishing Rebuttable Presumption for COVID-19 Have Been Withdrawn

By: Adam R. Young and Danielle R. Rabie

Seyfarth Synopsis: New Decision from Illinois Court of Appeals holds that employer can be liable for workplace violence under Illinois Gender Violence Act.

As we have discussed in many prior blogs, employers face numerous hazards of workplace violence, a complex term which can encompass a range of behaviors by employees, customers, and…
Continue Reading Illinois Employers May Face Liability for Workplace Violence Against Women Under Gender Violence Act

By Adam R. Young

Seyfarth Synopsis: Employers are widely installing AEDs to protect employees and visitors, but some states require strict compliance with AED regulations to insulate employers from tort liability.

Employers are Installing AEDs

Reports indicate that over 350,000 Americans suffer from sudden cardiac arrest each year, and approximately 95% of sudden cardiac arrest victims die before reaching…
Continue Reading Shock Value: How to Protect Your Company from a Negligence Lawsuit on Account of an AED (Automated External Defibrillator)

Seyfarth Synopsis: On Tuesday, May 15, 2018, a panel from Seyfarth’s Workplace Safety team will lead an interactive Breakfast Briefing on OSHA regulation and enforcement. 

One year into the Trump Administration, employers’ expectations for a more business-friendly Agency have not yet materialized, as the still-leaderless Agency proceeds ahead with widespread aggressive enforcement. The panel will address the new developments…
Continue Reading OSHA Trends and Developments: One Year into the Trump Administration

By Jeryl L. Olson, Patrick D. Joyce, and Craig B. Simonsen

Seyfarth Synopsis:  In another business-friendly move, the U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ) recently directed its Attorneys to not use its civil enforcement authority for violations based on agency guidance documents.

On January 25, 2018, Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand released an Department memo “Limiting Use …
Continue Reading Business-Friendly Times – USDOJ Limits the Use of Agency Guidance Documents in Civil Enforcement