| November 2, 2017 |
| New Developments |
| Mr. Gorsuch Goes to Washington: Is Chevron Endangered? By Tierra Jones Since the Supreme Court’s 1984 holding in Chevron USA v. Natural Resources Defense Council (“Chevron”), courts have looked to federal administrative agencies in interpreting regulatory statutes. Under this doctrine, commonly referred to as “Chevron deference,” courts adopt |
…
Husch Blackwell’s Charlie Merrill authored an article, “It’s Up To EPA, Congress To Act On Commerce Reg Reforms” that appeared in Law360 this week. The article identifies recommendations for reform and actions needed for this reform to take place.
The U. S. Department of Commerce recently issued a report on the input it received from manufacturers
…
On October 17, 2017, the Court of Appeals for the Eastern District of Missouri reversed a $72 million judgment that was previously rendered against Johnson & Johnson, relying on a United States Supreme Court decision that was issued earlier this year. In June, the Supreme Court of the United States narrowed the scope of specific personal jurisdiction in Bristol Myers Squib Co. v. Superior Court of California, San Francisco County, 137 S.Ct. 1773 (2017), holding that that each plaintiff in a multi-plaintiff case must establish personal jurisdiction over the defendant for his or her individual claim. Applying the Supreme Court’s decision, the Court of Appeals reversed the plaintiff’s verdict that was issued in February 2016 in Estate of Fox v. Johnson & Johnson, No. ED104580.
If your employees are part of the 25 million who have arbitration agreements that agree to bring claims in individual arbitration alone, then you will want to watch for the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis. The Court heard arguments in the case last Monday and several of the Justices…
| October 11, 2017 |
| New Developments |
| America’s Opioid Epidemic: Who Will Be Held Accountable? By Ally Schwab In recent years America has seen an increasing number of opioid-involved deaths and is currently experiencing what the Center for Disease Control (“CDC”) describes as an “opioid epidemic.” This crisis has been devastating to many communities and individuals, and |
…
A Wisconsin employer recently made headlines when it announced that it was offering its employees the option to be outfitted with a microchip to replace the cards or badges they use regularly while at work. The company, called Three Square Market, held a “chip party” on August 1 during which 41 out of its 85 employees opted to have the small chip implanted in their hand. Although the purpose of this RFID chip is limited to office functions such as making purchases in the break room market, logging into computers and printers, and accessing the building, one cannot help but think about the implications this type of technology could have on employee privacy.
Imagine having a great product that is created and honed in your company for years potentially walk out of your office unrestricted. This same great product could end up in the headquarters of one of your competitors when there are no protections set in place. The fear of losing talent and ideas is a very real concern for all employers, including startups. Accordingly, there has been an increase in usage of non-compete agreements by employers in all sectors to combat the potential loss of valuable confidential information and trade secrets.
| September 8, 2017 |
| New Developments |
| The SELF DRIVE Act Motors Through Congress By Mark Pratzel On September 6, 2017 the House of Representatives unanimously passed H.R. 3388, also known as the “Safely Ensuring Lives Future Deployment and Research in Vehicle Evolution Act,” also known as the “SELF DRIVE Act.” The broad, bipartisan support for this |
…
New legislation passed by the House of Representatives on July 14 contains language that would allow the Pentagon and federal agencies to buy directly from commercially run online marketplaces such as Amazon, OfficeMax, Home Depot and other e-commerce retailers. The bill, H.R. 2810, is the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018. It passed in the House 344 to 81. The Defense Acquisition Streamlining and Transparency Act, later merged into the Defense Authorization Act, was designed to reduce bureaucracy and costs for the government. The Washington Post recently stated that House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Tex.) sponsored the bill, saying ““Everybody understands what a difference Amazon has made…we’re trying to help DoD keep up with the changes in business practices with the goal of getting items faster, cheaper and keeping up with the changes in technology.”
Effective October 1, 2017, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will require all applicants who are eligible for a green card based on sponsorship by their employer to appear for an in-person interview at a local USCIS field office. Previously, employer-sponsored applicants for green cards were exempt from the in-person interview requirement after USCIS determined decades ago that in-person interviews were usually unnecessary for this category of applicants. Adjudicating officers were still permitted to conduct in-person interviews for applicants when necessary. All applicants were and will continue to be subject to fingerprinting and background checks.
