Julie Laemmle Watts is a member of the Firm's Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Labor & Employment and Intellectual Property Protection & Litigation Service Teams. She concentrates her practice in the areas of commercial disputes ...
By: Julie Laemmle Watts
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) released a new joint employer rule. Under the new rule, which takes effect on December 26, 2023, two (2) entities are considered joint employers if they either share or co-determine one or more of an employee’s essential terms and conditions of employment, even if one of the ...
By: Julie Laemmle Watts
Holiday parties are in full swing, with many people—and companies—returning to pre-pandemic norms. Company parties are a great way to allow employees to socialize and get to know one another outside of the work setting and for the company and its managers to express appreciation for all they do, but company parties can ...
By: Julie Laemmle Watts
The Occupational Safety and Health Organization (“OSHA”) has partially reopened the comment period for its rule on Occupational Exposure to COVID-19 in Healthcare Settings, the permanent healthcare COVID-19 standard, which was published in the Federal Register on March 23, 2022. Comments are due by April 22, 2022 ...
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) continues to update its guidance for employers in its “What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws” questions and answers on a host of topics, including topics that are important for employers who are beginning ...
Many people feel a certain level of invincibility to data breaches and online scammers, maybe because they are well-read and knowledgeable about what to look for and avoid, or maybe because they simply think they are smart enough to know a scam when they see it. While that may be true in the ordinary course, scammers have adapted ...
COVID-19 has drastically impacted people’s lives and livelihoods. It has also had drastic impacts on many legal sectors, but its impact on intellectual property has been much less severe with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) and Copyright Office moving forward via remote operations.
On March 12, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor provided new guidance for states in administering unemployment insurance benefits in an effort to ease financial burdens for those impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak.
The guidance outlines significant flexibilities for states, including allowing states to pay ...
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) published a final rule on January 25, 2019, which goes into effect February 25, 2019. The final rule better protects worker privacy by eliminating the electronic submission requirement of certain forms. Specifically, employers with 250 or more employees ...
In 2015, BladeRoom Group, Ltd. (“BRG”) and Bripco (UK) Limited (“Bripco”) filed suit in the United States District Court, Northern District of California, alleging that Facebook as well as Emerson Electric Co., Emerson Network Power Solutions, and Liebert (collectively “Emerson”), stole its designs for ...
Heat-related hazards can affect a variety of workers and workplaces. Without proper employer and employee precautions, exposure to heat can lead to worker injuries, diseases and fatalities; reduced productivity; and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) citations and penalties. To minimize any health ...
By Julie Laemmle; Alicia Humphrey, Wyatt Summer Associate 2018
In a recently released ruling, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“Board”) dismissed PYRAT RUM’s opposition to registration of PIRATE PISS for beer, ale and lager. Patrón Spirits International AG v. Conyngham Brewing Company, Opposition No. 91226939 (June 8, 2018 ...
By Julie Laemmle
Guns-at-work laws generally limit a private employer’s ability to prohibit its employees from bringing concealed firearms to the workplace. These laws are state-specific, as there is currently no federal law that regulates weapons at private workplaces.
States that have statutory guns-at-work laws covering private ...
By Julie Laemmle
The Fourth Circuit recently issued a decision in EEOC v. Maryland Insurance Administration, No. 16-2408 (4th Cir. Jan. 5, 2018), joining the Third, Sixth and Tenth Circuits in finding that the statutory language of Section 206(d) of the Equal Pay Act (“EPA”) requires an employer to provide evidence that the employer’s ...
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (“EEOC”) proposed new EEO-1 Form is on hold indefinitely pending further review by the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”).
The proposed EEO-1 Form, created during the Obama Administration, seeks to combat pay inequality by including more categories for ...