Insights

June

• 6/23/2015
  Client Alert: FTC Revises Endorsement FAQs, Provides Additional Answers to Endorsement Disclosure Questions
  The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has recently released its updated “What People are Asking” FAQs regarding its Endorsement Guides. The FTC’s Endorsement Guides help define what the FTC would consider to be a deceptive practice when using endorsements in advertising.
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• 6/23/2015
  Ohio Statehouse Update: House-Senate Conference Committee Working to Finalize Biennial Budget Bill This Week
  As the deadline for passage of Ohio’s budget bill looms, a House-Senate Conference Committee worked over the weekend and is expected to meet to report a compromise version of House Bill 64, the state’s two-year main operating budget bill, by mid-week.
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• 6/19/2015
  Labor and Employment Alert: Even ‘Lawful’ Employees Can Still Be Fired for Using Medical Marijuana
  On June 15, 2015, the Colorado Supreme Court unanimously held that employers may still terminate employees who use medical marijuana – even though medical marijuana use is specifically authorized by the Colorado Constitution and Colorado law protects employees’ lawful off-duty conduct.
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• 6/18/2015
  Health Care Alert: New Proposed CMS Rules Relative to Medicaid Managed Care May Increase Access to Medicaid Behavioral Health Services
  Recently, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published proposed rules relative to Medicaid Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) that may increase access to Medicaid behavioral health services through Medicaid managed care programs.
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• 6/18/2015
  Oil and Gas Alert: The Supreme Court of Ohio Publishes its First Decision Analyzing the Ohio Dormant Mineral Act
  On June 18, 2015, the Supreme Court of Ohio issued its first decision analyzing one aspect of the much contested Ohio Dormant Mineral Act.
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• 6/15/2015
  State and Local Tax Alert: Ohio Department of Taxation to Begin Use Tax Audits
  In May, the Ohio Department of Taxation mailed letters to Ohio direct pay permit holders indicating the Department’s intent to conduct audits for Ohio sales and use tax compliance on purchases. The Department’s letters are friendly reminders that vigilant compliance remains ever important.
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• 6/15/2015
  Labor and Employment Alert: The Law of Unintended Consequences: Legislation Protecting Off-Duty Conduct Introduced in Ohio Senate
  Legislation was recently introduced in the Ohio Senate by Senator Joe Uecker to protect employees who engage in certain off-duty conduct from adverse job actions. At least 29 states and the District of Columbia currently have laws that protect employees to some extent from adverse action based on their off-duty activities.
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• June 2015
  • Jackie Ford
  • Elizabeth T. Smith
  Crisis Management Takes a Team
  Jackie Ford and Elizabeth T. Smith, attorneys in the Vorys Columbus and Houston offices and members of the litigation and labor and employment groups, co-authored an article titled “Crisis Management Takes a Team.” It was featured in the June 2015 edition of the AICUO Affiliate Member Newsletter.
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• 6/10/2015
  Labor and Employment Alert: Do Payroll Debit Cards Violate Pennsylvania Law? Maybe, Maybe Not
  More employers are using or considering payroll debit cards instead of paper checks or direct deposit to pay their employees. For employers, these cards may be less expensive than physical checks; for employees, these cards allow them to withdraw funds and make payments much like traditional debit cards.
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• 6/5/2015
  • Gregory D. Russell
  • Peter A. Lusenhop
  Ohio Weighs Post-Production Costs, Royalty Calculations
  Greg Russell, Pete Lusenhop and Steven Chang, attorneys in the Vorys Columbus office, co-authored an article for the June 2015 edition of the Oil and Gas Journal titled “Ohio Weighs Post-Production Costs, Royalty Calculations.”
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• 6/4/2015
  Labor and Employment Alert: Sixth Circuit Holds That Plaintiff’s Own Testimony is Good Enough to Defeat Summary Judgment Under the FLSA
  The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to keep records of nonexempt employees’ hours worked each day, total hours worked each workweek, regular hourly rate, and straight and overtime wages. There is no required form for these records, but the records must include accurate information about the hours worked and the wages earned. A recent case from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reinforces the importance of good record keeping when it comes to tracking employees’ work time. In Moran v. Al Basit, the Sixth Circuit answered “one simple question: Where Plaintiff has presented no other evidence, is Plaintiff's testimony sufficient to defeat Defendant's motion for summary judgment? We hold that it is.”
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• 6/1/2015
  • Thomas R. Crookes
  Prep For, But Don't Ban Politics Talk
  Tom Crookes, a partner in the Vorys Akron office and a member of the labor and employment group, authored an article for Crain’s Cleveland Business titled “Prep For, But Don't Ban Politics Talk.”
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May

• 5/28/2015
  • Nelson D. Cary
  • Ashley M. Manfull
  Policies on Employee Appearance and Social Media Use Declared Unlawful
  Nelson Cary, a partner in the Columbus office, and Ashley Manfull, a senior attorney in the Akron office, co-authored an article for Crain’s Cleveland Business titled “Policies on Employee Appearance and Social Media Use Declared Unlawful.”
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• 5/26/2015
  Whistleblower Defense Alert: Supreme Court Holds the WSLA Does Not Apply to the Civil FCA But Limits the Scope of the First-to-File Bar
  Today the Supreme Court issued its decision in Kellogg Brown & Root Servs., Inc. v. United States ex rel. Carter. On the first question presented, the Court held that the Wartime Suspension of Limitations Act (WSLA) applies only to criminal offenses and thus does not toll the False Claims Act’s (FCA) statute of limitations indefinitely while the United States is in armed conflict.
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• 5/26/2015
  Whistleblower Defense Alert: Sixth Circuit Reaffirms Fair Market Value As Proper Measure of Damages, Vacates FCA Award of $657 Million to the Government
  Last month, the Sixth Circuit reaffirmed the fair market value (FMV) standard as the primary measure of damages in False Claims Act (FCA) cases—and demonstrated the teeth of that requirement when evidence (including expert testimony) is not presented to support an FMV determination. United States v. United Technologies Corp., 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 5476 (6th Cir. April 6, 2015), represented the culmination of a decades-long dispute between the government and United Technologies’ Pratt & Whitney unit over pricing for engines supplied to the Air Force for use in its F-15 and F-16 aircraft.
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• 5/22/2015
  Client Alert: Private University Police Department Records Qualify as Public Records
  On May 21, 2015, the Supreme Court of Ohio ruled that private entities, even sub-parts of private universities, can quality as public bodies with duties to comply with Ohio’s Public Records Act.
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• 5/18/2015
  Labor and Employment Alert: Monitor 401(k)s, Or Else - Supreme Court Overturns Tibble v. Edison International
  On May 18, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held in the case of Tibble v. Edison International that fiduciaries of an ERISA plan have a continuing duty to monitor investments and to remove imprudent ones. This decision continues a recent trend in which the Court has demonstrated its willingness to overturn courts of appeals in ERISA cases.
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• 5/18/2015
  • Victor J. Ferguson
  • David A. Groenke
  • Emily S. Pan
  • David A. Swift
  • Mark E. Vannatta
  Planning for Blended Families
  Blending of families and the handling of the financial assets brought into a new marriage require estate planning solutions specially tailored to meet the unique circumstances inherent in such situations.
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• 5/15/2015
  Labor and Employment Alert: Bad Facts Make Bad Law: The Fourth Circuit Lowers the Bar for Hostile Work Environment and Retaliation Claims
  The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (which covers Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina) recently held that calling an African-American employee a “porch monkey” twice within 24 hours was so severe that it created a hostile work environment. The Court also found that the employee’s complaints about the comments were protected by the anti-retaliation provisions of Title VII.
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• 5/14/2015
  Labor and Employment Alert: 2016 HSA and HDHP Limits
  The IRS announced the 2016 indexed amounts for health savings accounts (HSAs) and high deductible health plans (HDHPs).
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