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Eighth Circuit Dismisses Challenge to Iowa’s Mask-Mandate Ban in Public Schools

By John D. Simmons / March 1, 2024

On February 27, 2024, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an Order regarding Arc of Iowa, et. al., v. Reynolds, et. al. that reversed course on its prior decision that the plaintiffs were entitled to an injunction prohibiting enforcement of Iowa’s ban on mask-mandates in public schools. This case was originally brought by the…

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THE NLRB ACCUSES WALMART OF UNLAWFULLY “SUPPRESSING” EMPLOYEE COMPLAINTS ABOUT ITS COVID-19 SAFETY RULES, AND OF MAINTAINING AN “ILLEGAL RULE” BARRING EMPLOYEES FROM MAKING RECORDINGS IN THE WORKPLACE

By Wessels Sherman / February 23, 2024

Those employers who have previously had the pleasure of “making the acquaintance” of the NLRB, probably already know that today’s NLRB is not your parents’ NLRB. Precedent that has stood for decades is being rewritten by the current Board at a frenetic pace. Case in point – a recent complaint issued by the NLRB’s Regional…

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Remote Work as an Accommodation in the Post-COVID Workplace

By Alan E. Seneczko / August 17, 2023

There was a time in the not too distant past when working from home was generally not a reasonable accommodation under the ADA. Mobley v. Allstate Ins. Co., 531 F.3d 539, 547-48 (7th Cir. 2008). In fact, the Seventh Circuit was quite emphatic in its position on this issue: “[A]n employer is not required to…

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OSHA Vaccine Mandate – The Epilogue

By Wessels Sherman / January 31, 2022

After weeks of consternation, uncertainty and litigation, the fate of OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”), which required employers with 100 or more employees to implement mandatory COVID vaccination policies, is now sealed – and it has been done by OSHA itself. After the U.S. the Supreme Court issued its decision to stay the OSHA mandate…

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Supreme Court Lifts Injunction on DHHS Vaccine Mandate for Recipients of Medicare and Medicaid Funding

By Alan E. Seneczko / January 13, 2022

In a companion decision to its ruling on the OSHA vaccine mandate, the Supreme Court issued another stay – but this one on injunctions that had been issued enjoining regulations issued by the Secretary of Health and Human Services mandating that recipients of Medicare and Medicaid funding (e.g., hospitals, outpatient rehabilitation facilities, skilled nursing facilities,…

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Supreme Court Puts Skids on OSHA Vaccine Mandate

By Alan E. Seneczko / January 13, 2022

In a decision released this afternoon, the Supreme Court put a halt to the OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard that requires employers with 100 or more employees to implement a mandatory vaccine policy, under which employees must either be vaccinated for COVID or undergo weekly testing at their own expense, on their own time, or be…

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OSHA Vaccine Mandate Back On

By Alan E. Seneczko / December 20, 2021

In the on-again-off-again legal environment surrounding the OSHA vaccine mandate, on Friday, December 17, 2021 the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the Fifth Circuit’s stay of OSHA vaccine mandate and reinstated the Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS). The ETS, which requires employers with 100 or more employees to implement and enforce a mandatory vaccine policy…

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OSHA Suspends Enforcement of Vaccine Mandate

By Alan E. Seneczko / November 18, 2021

On November 17, 2021, OSHA announced that, given the decision of the Fifth Circuit, it is suspending enforcement of its COVID vaccine mandate: On November 12, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted a motion to stay OSHA’s COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard, published on November 5, 2021 (86…

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OSHA Vaccine Mandate Future In Doubt

By Alan E. Seneczko / November 17, 2021

“IT IS ORDERED that OSHA take no steps to implement or enforce the [vaccine] Mandate until further court order.” In a decision highly critical of OSHA’s November 5, 2021 Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”), which mandates that all employers with 100 or more employees “develop, implement and enforce a mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy,” on November 12,…

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OSHA Issues Vaccine Mandate

By Alan E. Seneczko / November 4, 2021

This morning the Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced the issuance of its much anticipated, highly controversial COVID vaccine mandate. The Emergency Temporary Standard, to be published in tomorrow’s Federal Register, becomes effective on publication. Employers are required to comply with its requirements within 30 days, except for the mandatory vaccines, which must be completed…

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