On April 30, 2019, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a notification of enforcement discretion in the Federal Register revising the maximum annual penalty amounts for breaches under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).
Jeff Heller, of counsel in the Vorys Houston office and a member of the labor and employment group, authored an article for Employment Law360 titled "What To Expect From New EEOC Pay Data Demands."
On April 25, 2019, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia accepted a proposal from the EEOC that will require employers who are covered by the EEO-1 reporting requirements to submit supplemental data on employees’ pay segmented by sex, race, and ethnicity by September 30.
In 1990, Congress enacted the Federal Debt Collection and Procedures Act. One feature of that law allows a federal court to issue a “writ of continuing garnishment” to access a convicted participant’s retirement plan benefits to satisfy a restitution order entered as part of the participant’s criminal sentencing.
HR professionals know that conducting timely and effective internal investigations is vital in order for the company to make better decisions when facing contentious allegations.
Investors considering an investment intended to benefit from the federal Qualified Opportunity Zone (QOZ) program should also explore the availability of similar state programs.
Through Vorys’ fourth annual Economic Development Incentives Conference – hosted in February – we welcomed more than 270 guests from three countries and seven states.
On April 9, 2019, federal jurors in the Northern District of Texas returned a guilty verdict against seven doctors, surgeons, and health care executives accused of participating in a $200 million bribery and kickback scheme at Forest Park Medical Center (FPMC), a physician-owned hospital in Dallas.
On April 12, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) issued an interpretative statement concluding that all releases of pollutants from a point source to groundwater are excluded from the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program pursuant to Sections 301 and 402 of the Clean Water Act (Act). USEPA’s interpretative statement clarified that such discharges are excluded from NPDES permit requirements even where pollutants are conveyed to jurisdictional surface waters via groundwater.
On March 13, 2019, the City of Cincinnati joined a growing number of states and municipalities that have passed laws prohibiting employers from inquiring into a job applicant’s salary history.
Last month, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois confronted a bank’s potential liability for false information obtained (and even allegedly encouraged) by bank employees in the processing of consumer loans.
President Trump issued two Executive Orders (EO) on April 10, 2019 to expedite permitting and construction of primarily energy-related infrastructure projects.
Jackie Ford, a partner in the Vorys Houston office and a member of the labor and employment group, authored an article for Corporate Counsel titled "America’s Opioid Crisis: What Employers and Their Counsel Need to Know."
Since the last edition of The Evaluator, there have been several notable legislative developments and decisions from courts and tax boards in jurisdictions across the country.
In a recent decision, the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota held that the Department of Justice (DOJ) can still dismiss a qui tam filed under the False Claims Act even after it has declined to intervene in the case.
Vorys Partner Joe Brunner authored an article titled, “Data Breach Litigation: Defenses Against the Rising Tide” for the April 2019 edition of AHLA Connections.
Jay A. Surabian
Kelly B. Bissinger
Jen House
Christopher J. Knezevic
Joseph B. Mann
Jacinto A. Núñez
Elizabeth T. Smith
J. Theodore Smith
Jonathan K. Stock
Jill S. Tangeman
Scott J. Ziance
Victor J. Ferguson
John F. Furniss III
David A. Groenke
Emily S. Pan
Michael G. Schwartz
David A. Swift
Mark E. Vannatta
Suzanne R. Galyardt
Karen M. Moore
Bailey R. Drexler
Jackie Ford
Nicholas M.J. Ray
Kenneth R. West
David M. Aldous
Lauren M. Johnson
Andrew E. DeBord
Lindsay Doss Spillman
Hilary J. Houston
Steven L. Smiseck
Megan Savage Knox
Anthony L. Ehler
David A. Froling
Joseph M. Brunner