COVID-19

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By: Samantha L. Brooks and Dawn Reddy Solowey

Seyfarth Synopsis: In two cases issued by the Seventh Circuit, Passarella and Dottenwhy v. Aspirus, Inc. and  Bube and Hedrington v. Aspirus Hospital, Inc. the Court held that at the motion to dismiss stage, the fact that a religious accommodation request (as plead in a complaint) “involves or even rests” on…

Continue Reading Seventh Circuit: Religious Discrimination Claim Survives Motion to Dismiss Even if Request For Religious Exemption to COVID-19 Vaccine Includes Non-Religious Reasoning

By Adam R. Young, A. Scott Hecker, Patrick D. Joyce, and Craig B. Simonsen

Seyfarth Synopsis: The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is shifting its COVID-19 isolation guidance, advising that COVID-positive individuals no longer need to isolate once they have been fever-free for 24 hours and their symptoms are mild or improving…

Continue Reading CDC Trims COVID-19 Isolation Guidance: COVID-Positive Individuals Need Only Isolate for 24 Hours After Being Fever-Free

By Kristina M. Launey 

Seyfarth Synopsis: Among new workplace legal requirements effective January 1, 2024, making employers green in the face with end of the year preparations are necessary revisions to Wage Theft Notices. They must be ready for distribution starting January 1 to new hires and when information changes, in line with the new template notice from the…

Continue Reading Every Who In California Must Update Their Wage Theft Notice For January

By Darien Harris, Elizabeth L. Humphrey, and Tim Watson

Seyfarth Synopsis:  Texas has joined a number of other states in prohibiting employers, including healthcare providers, from requiring their workforces to be vaccinated against COVID-19. As a result, employers in Texas must review their vaccination policies and could be faced with tough choices in the event of another significant…

Continue Reading Private Sector Employers Face $50,000 Fine for Vaccine Mandates, New Texas Law Says

By Ilana Morady, Patrick D. Joyce, and Benjamin D. Briggs

Seyfarth Synopsis: On June 20, 2023, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) updated its guidance to local health departments on the definition of a COVID-19 outbreak. The new definition changes the timeframe for counting COVID-19 cases that make up an outbreak from 14 to 7 days.

Continue Reading Cal/OSHA Definition Changes Make Outbreaks Less Likely

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 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 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