Below please find our latest alerts regarding COVID-19’s effect on various policies and laws. Feel free to read and share, and contact us if there is anything we can do to help you or your business maintain compliance in this ever-evolving situation. How Can Grocery Stores Protect Themselves? As citizens lose patience with the stay-at-home orders, we can expect a surge in protests. Grocery stores … Continue reading COVID-19 Client Communication, Vol. 16
Preparing for Grocery Store Protests
Written by Emily F. Evitt
As Californians lose patience with the stay-at-home orders, we can expect more protests across the state. And as customers face shortages and stores enforce limits on their purchases, protests at grocery stores may be particularly likely. How can grocery stores protect themselves?
California’s Constitution grants broader free speech rights than the First Amendment. Indeed, under certain circumstances – namely cases involving shopping malls – courts have held that California’s free speech right extends to private property where that property is the functional equivalent of a traditional public forum. See Robbins v. Pruneyard Shopping Center, 23 Cal. 3d 899 (1979). Continue reading “How Can Grocery Stores Protect Themselves?”
Employers Cannot Exclude At-Risk Employees, Says EEOC in New Return-to-Work Guidance
Written by Jeremy Mittman and Carly Epstein
The EEOC recently answered the question whether employers can bar from the workplace employees who, according to the CDC, are at a “higher risk for severe illness” if they get COVID-19.
In the words of the EEOC in its press release: “It is important that employers understand that the ADA does not allow them to act against employees solely because the employee has a CDC-listed underlying medical condition.”
An employer cannot exclude — or take any other adverse action against — an employee solely because he/she falls within the CDC identified high risk category. Instead, the employer must determine whether the “employee’s disability poses a ‘direct threat’ to his health that cannot be eliminated or reduced by reasonable accommodation.” Continue reading “Protecting At-Risk Employees”
Contracting COVID-19 Through Work Is Now Presumed Under California Workers Compensation
Written by Jeremy Mittman and Louise Truong
On May 6, 2020, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-62-20, which provides that any COVID-19 related illness that an employee contracts between March 19, 2020 and July 5, 2020 shall be presumed to arise out of and in the course of employment for workers’ compensation purposes. This presumption will only apply if all of the following conditions are met: Continue reading “Workers Comp For COVID-19”
Below please find our latest alerts regarding COVID-19’s effect on various policies and laws. Feel free to read and share, and contact us if there is anything we can do to help you or your business maintain compliance in this ever-evolving situation. Securities Litigation Ahead? You didn’t cause COVID-19, you didn’t shut down the economy, but could you be held liable? This alert provides some … Continue reading COVID-19 Client Communication, Vol. 15
Written by John Durrant
As of May 5, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has accompanied a precipitous descent in the domestic securities markets, followed by a surprisingly sharp rebound. Such volatility may well give rise to several different types of potential liability against companies and their officers and directors, including:
Business leaders may well say, “Wait, we didn’t cause COVID-19; we didn’t shut down the economy; how can we be held liable?” Continue reading “Will COVID-19 Cause Securities Litigation?”
Two New Los Angeles Ordinances Create New Worker Recall and Retention Protections… For Select Businesses Written by Jeremy Mittman and Bethanie Thau On May 4, 2020, Mayor Garcetti signed two new city ordinances creating recall and retention protections for non-supervisory workers in certain industries deemed severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and “Safer at Home” declarations by Governor Newsom and Mayor Garcetti. The COVID-19 Right … Continue reading No R&R for LA Employers Under New Recall and Retention Ordinances
Written by Mark T. Hiraide
In response to the ill effects the coronavirus pandemic is having on business, the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 4, 2020 adopted a temporary final rule to make it easier for existing businesses to raise up to $250,000 through Regulation Crowdfunding.
Under the relaxed rules, which are in effect only until August 31, 2020, a business is excused from complying with the Regulation Crowdfunding requirement to have its financial statements reviewed by an independent public accountant. During this limited period, the SEC is requiring only certain information from the business’ Federal income tax returns certified by the principal executive officer. That represents a significant time and financial savings for companies – especially small businesses – that need a quick infusion of capital during rough times caused by the COVID-19 virus. Continue reading “SEC Offers an Elixir for Small Businesses Feeling the Financial Effects of COVID-19”
Below please find our latest alerts regarding COVID-19’s effect on various policies and laws. Feel free to read and share, and contact us if there is anything we can do to help you or your business maintain compliance in this ever-evolving situation. Continue reading “COVID-19 Client Communication, Vol. 14”
Written by David Wheeler Newman and Daniel Cousineau
The charitable lead trust has always been a powerful vehicle to balance philanthropic and estate planning objectives. The recent convergence of two factors that are critically important in the planning dynamic for charitable lead annuity trusts (CLATs) create a planning environment that is so favorable for CLATs, it is no exaggeration to suggest that the current period may be the golden age of CLATs, presenting a very interesting planning opportunity for wealthy families. But that opportunity is temporary, since the convergence of these factors is unlikely to continue for very long. Continue reading “Is this the Golden Age of CLATs?”
MSK Blog 