A religious organization has a constitutional right to make decisions about the hiring and firing of its “ministers” under the First Amendment. In a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Church and School v. E.E.O.C., 132 S.Ct. 694, 2012 WL 75047 (2012), the Supreme Court ruled that religious organizations can assert the “ministerial exception” under the First Amended to bar employment discrimination suits by those who can be considered “ministers” of the organization ...
Hot off the presses from our United States Supreme Court is a decision decided February 21, 2012 affirming a broad construction of the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”). While the decision, Marmet Healthcare Center, Inc. v. Clayton Brown, 565 U.S. – (2012) No. 11391, would appear to be a case of narrow import – it reverses a decision of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals that held arbitration provisions in nursing home contracts to be invalid – the language is far reaching ...
The Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on April 28, 2020 signed a Notice of Extended Waiver for certain deadlines associated with trademark-related filings, if the missed deadline resulted from situations relating to COVID-19. Due dates between March 27 and May 31, 2020 are extended until June 1, 2020 ...
The Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on April 28, 2020 signed a Notice of Extended Waiver for certain deadlines associated with patent-related filings, if the missed deadline resulted from situations relating to COVID-19. Due dates between March 27 and May 31, 2020 are extended until June 1, 2020 ...
Construction professionals sometimes feel as if it is déjà vu when it comes to disputes—and they are right. There are a handful of claim types that always seem to rear their heads, even in projects that generally are run well. This article will briefly describe those claims and how to avoid them in 2023. 1. Design Error Claims These claims often come up when an inexperienced owner (or architect) are working on an entirely new type of project ...
Much of the bankruptcy chatter arising from the pandemic world in which we find ourselves is now focusing on the cascade of new bankruptcy cases that are predicted to arrive soon. We have already seen the effects of closed stores and no foot traffic on some of the big names in retail (J.C. Penney, J. Crew, Neiman Marcus, Pier 1, etc.), but many consumer cases are sure to follow, the result of the staggering number of layoffs and lost jobs that the pandemic has caused ...
Bankers confront the bankruptcy world regularly. It can be a world of somewhat unfamiliar, if not confusing, concepts and terms. Unfortunately, it can also be a world fraught with risk associated with taking actions (or not taking actions) that run afoul of the rules or jeopardize the bank’s rights against the borrower. Here are a few of the “truths” that bankers need to keep in mind in the bankruptcy world. 1. The automatic stay is, well, automatic ...
Nursing home and other long-term care facilities are bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic because their residents are at the highest risk for contracting the disease. It has been recently reported that 20 percent of all deaths in the United States from the coronavirus are associated with infections developed in nursing homes. Due to the current inconsistencies in reporting procedures, the actual numbers may be higher ...
Nursing home and other long-term care facilities are bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic because their residents are at the highest risk for contracting the disease. It has been recently reported that 20 percent of all deaths in the United States from the coronavirus are associated with infections developed in nursing homes. Due to the current inconsistencies in reporting procedures, the actual numbers may be higher ...
The United States Supreme Court has recently armed employers with two new defenses while settling an issue that may otherwise have been of fairly limited direct interest to most employers. The Court resolved a recent circuit split – the issue was largely resolved until 2009 regarding whether pharmaceutical representatives qualified as outside salesmen under the Fair Labor Standards Act ...
Over the last 18 months, nearly everyone has experienced increased stress as once simple decisions about day-to-day routines became more complicated, going to work and school became a potential health risk, and many families experienced financial hardship. Stress associated with the pandemic has exacerbated mental health impairments and other conditions triggered by stress and led people to seek professional help for their struggles ...
During this turbulent period, now is the time to evaluate your facility's admission procedures and paperwork, especially your arbitration agreement. You want to make sure that in the event of litigation they will withstand strict scrutiny by the court. Failure to do so may have dire consequences that will leave your facility vulnerable. If your admission procedures and paperwork are not sufficiently robust, a court will not enforce your facility's arbitration agreement ...
West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals makes clear that third parties may not sue under the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act for collection attempts On May 17, 2017, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals issued a unanimous decision that affirmed a trial court’s order granting summary judgment to a collector in a lawsuit brought by a third party over collection calls made to her home that were intended to reach another person living there. In Young v ...
as published in the Fall 2021 issue of West Virginia Banker magazine As the world (hopefully) comes out of the COVID-19 pandemic later this year, the way we conduct business is changing. The banking industry, described by one commentator as “the most old-school of the old-school professions,” is criticized as being resistant to change. As one article described it, “the fundamental ways that financial institutions function have not changed with the times ...
The world continues to come to grips with the daily changes brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools contemplate opening. Some do, while others do not. Some professional and college sports teams play games to empty stadiums. Some businesses are open, with restrictions, while others are not. Lawsuits are being filed by businesses that think they should be permitted to reopen like their neighbors who already have ...
In our first piece in this returning to work series, we examined the logistical issues associated with returning employees to work. In this latest segment, we will address the legal considerations underpinning the return-to-work process. 1 ...
Many businesses have been shuttered or have reduced their operations to an on-site skeleton crew supporting droves of teleworkers. At some point, most will reopen and bring their employees back into the workplace. Though the process will vary from industry to industry, every single employer will need a return-to-work plan that accounts for myriad logistical, personnel, legal, and safety issues associated with the post-pandemic return to normal ...
Most employers know that they have a legal obligation to protect employees from harassment at work and to prevent it from recurring. Many employers assume that this obligation relates to harassment by employees and managers; however, it actually extends to harassment by third parties, including customers or vendors. Several recent cases brought by the U.S ...
At Spilman Thomas & Battle, we talk with lending clients regularly about their collection options against borrowers who have defaulted in their obligations. Many are surprised to learn how varied and wide their toolbox actually is. Debts that look dead in the water may yet have air in the lungs ...
As we continue our series on bankruptcy litigation, we want to discuss the use of receiverships as an important aspect of a fully developed creditors' rights practice. Creditors often face recalcitrant corporate debtors who continue to reap the rewards of their business while ignoring all attempts by creditors to collect amounts owed to them. Sometimes, those debtors' intricate corporate structure makes it harder for creditors to trace money and assets and easier for debtors to hide them ...
On Wednesday, March 22, the United States Supreme Court ruled that a compliance order issued under EPA’s Clean Water Act enforcement authority to individuals for allegedly filling part of their property without the necessary “dredge and fill” permit could be challenged in federal district court. The ruling marks a major loss for EPA’s enforcement practices under the Clean Water Act ...
On referral from Justice Alito to the full court, the Supreme Court of the United States on Wednesday denied an application to halt the enforcement of Pennsylvania Governor Wolf’s shutdown order ...
For more than twenty years, the federal government has attempted to limit the number of unsolicited phone calls consumers receive through the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227 (“TCPA”), which is perhaps best known for governing the famous “Do Not Call” list. Businesses, including banks and financial institutions, must understand the statute and stay abreast of its changes because the penalties for violating the TCPA are steep ...
Two articles (Newsweek and Fierce Biotech) describe the new lawsuit by the Henrietta Lacks Estate surrounding the HeLa cell line. The claim is "unjust enrichment," a difficult claim to win, but one that seems to fit this case, if any does. If you don't know this story, I recommend The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot. It is the true story of an apparently wonderful woman, Ms ...
On July 2, 2012, the North Carolina Senate and House of Representatives voted to override Governor Perdue’s veto of Senate Bill 820, known as the Clean Energy and Economic Security Act (the “Act”), legalizing hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling within the State but delaying permitting until the General Assembly takes additional legislative action to allow it ...
