Bugbee & Conkle, LLP Legal Blog

This just in: the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has lifted the preliminary injunction that had blocked the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (“OSHA”) emergency temporary standard (“ETS”) rule from going into effect. The Sixth Circuit’s decision has been appealed to the United States Supreme Court. The ETS rule applies to all businesses in the United States with at least…

The flurry of vaccine mandate litigation continues. We recently wrote on a federal district court’s preliminary injunction blocking the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) mandate across the country.  However, a recent subsequent decision by the Fifth Circuit reinstated the CMS vaccine mandate for the majority of the United States. In the opinion, the Fifth Circuit, per curiam, found…

The end of November brought a flurry of vaccine mandate litigation.  Two federal courts issued preliminary injunctions blocking the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) mandate and the federal contractor vaccine mandate. CMS Vaccine Mandate Blocked Nationwide CMS had issued an emergency regulation requiring COVID-19 vaccination of eligible staff at health care facilities that participate in the Medicare and…

On November 10, 2021, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Uber Technologies Inc. (“Uber”) alleging violations of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”).  The lawsuit, filed in federal court in California, alleges that Uber violated the ADA by failing to modify its wait-time policy.  This lawsuit is one of the many ADA Title III lawsuits filed…

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) in the Federal Register on November 5, 2021.  The ETS requires companies with 100 or more employees to implement a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy or require unvaccinated employees to wear facial coverings in the workplace and undergo weekly COVID-19 testing. On November 6, 2021, the 5th Circuit…

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (the “EEOC”), the Department of Labor (the “DOL”), and the National Labor Relations Board (the “NLRB”) announced a joint commission tasked with enforcing workplace laws relating to retaliation in the workplace. The Memoranda of Understanding (the “MOU”) between the three federal agencies allows all three agencies to share information and investigate charges that violate multiple…

The United States is currently experiencing a labor shortage unlike ever seen before.  Simultaneously, the “Great Resignation” continues.  According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4 million Americans quit their jobs in July 2021 while a record-breaking 10.9 million jobs remained open.  These current phenomena lead to employers creating creative strategies to retain workers.  However, those creative strategies must…

Bugbee & Conkle, LLP has a full time opening for an associate attorney. The ideal candidate will have 3+ years’ experience and must be licensed to practice in Ohio.  The position will involve representation of employers in employment matters in both court and...

On July 6, 2021, the Industrial Commission of Ohio resumed in-person hearings.  Or did it?  The Commission’s website contains a link to information about in-person workers’ compensation hearings, but this posting neither constitutes a policy regarding in-person hearings nor does it provide clear guidance to practitioners. Although many parties and representatives have returned to the hearing room, there is little…