Copyright
Monday, October 31, 2022
Judge Erred in Finding a Conflict in Representation
Tuesday, October 25, 2022
Time to Boot Up a Computer Held to be Working
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the district court’s summary judgment in favor of defendant Customer Connexx LLC and remanded for further proceedings in a collective action brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act by call center workers.
Thursday, October 20, 2022
Paterson NJ Employers Face $518K in OSHA Fines
The U.S. Department of Labor has issued citations to three New Jersey contractors who willfully exposed employees to potentially lethal dangers by allowing them to work near energized power lines at a Paterson worksite.
Friday, October 14, 2022
NJ Issues Stop-Work Orders for Lack of Workers’ Compensation Insurance
Enforce continues at a rapid pace in New Jersey for failure to comply with the state’s labor laws. The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL) issued stop-work orders to contractor HESP Solar L.L.C. of Montvale and subcontractor Patriot Iron Works of Gaithersburg, Maryland, who were working on a project at Belleville High School.
Saturday, October 8, 2022
Occupational Exposure to Monkeypox
A recent report published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] provides evidence supporting the hypothesis that both health care workers’ [HCW] infections observed in this study were transmitted through fomite exposure with surfaces in the patient’s home, their own PPE, or outer surfaces of the specimen transport box.
Thursday, September 15, 2022
US Supreme Court Asked to Review PREP Act Immunity
The US Supreme Court [SCOTUS] has been asked to review whether the PREP Act [The Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act of 2005, 42 U.S.C. §§ 247d-6d, 247d-6e] pre-empts a claim for willful misconduct,
Monday, August 29, 2022
Appeals Court Rejects Effort to Compel OSHA to Retain Healthcare ETS
On Friday, an Appellate Court rejected the UNIONS' effort, including the National Nurses, United, to compel the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to retain the Healthcare Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS).
Saturday, August 27, 2022
NJ Sues Several Companies for Environmental Pollution
Acting Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and Commissioner of Environmental Protection (DEP) Shawn M. LaTourette announced today the filing of seven new environmental enforcement actions across the state.
Friday, August 26, 2022
Monkeypox in the Workplace
Monkeypox is not merely a sexual or geographic disease it is an infectious disease that can cause many workers to be exposed. It is a contagious disease that is transmitted by body contact. Infectious diseases are compensable under most workers’ compensation acts.
Saturday, August 13, 2022
Camp Lejeune Water Contamination Claims
Drinking water at Camp Lejune, North Carolina, was contaminated by toxic substances, and it is estimated that over one million military personnel, their families, and civilians who lived and worked near Camp Lejune training facility between August 1, 1953, and December 31, 1987, may have been exposed to hazardous substances.
Wednesday, August 10, 2022
Burn Pit Legislation Signed into Law
President Biden signed legislation that will provide medical benefits from the Veterans Administration to service members exposed to toxic burn pits while deployed overseas in recent conflicts. The President signed the Sargent First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act. It embodies some of the goals we strived to achieve in the decades-long burn pit litigation project.
Monday, August 8, 2022
EPA Launches Community Engagement Efforts on New Ethylene Oxide Risk Information
Friday, July 29, 2022
Republican Senators Block Final Passage of The Bipartisan Toxic Exposure Bill That Would Assist Veterans
In a stunning reversal the much-anticipated legislation that would aid veterans exposed to toxic burn pits, and water contamination at Camp Lejune and other war sites was blocked by a unified group of 25 Republican Senators. The widely bipartisan Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act of 2022 previously passed the senate 84-14.
Wednesday, July 20, 2022
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Safety and Health Topics: Heat Stress
Sunday, July 3, 2022
NJ Supreme Court Enhances Workplace Safety and Adopts an Updated Standard for Medical Causation
A divided NJ Supreme Court upheld a verdict for an employee who suffered mesothelioma, a fatal cancer, as a result of a product manufacturer’s failure to warn of the lethal nature of the product in the workplace. The Court acknowledged that even minor exposure to asbestos could cause disease.
Thursday, June 23, 2022
California Supreme Court Agrees to Review COVID Take Home Liability Case
The California Supreme Court has accepted for review the question of whether the workers’ compensation act bars a claim against an employer by a household contact of an employee who contacted COVID at work. The court granted the request, made under California Rules of Court, rule 8.548, that the court will decide questions of California law presented in a matter pending in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Monday, June 20, 2022
The Toxic Legacy of Ford Motor Company
The State of New Jersey is suing Ford Motor Company [FMC] for environmental pollution due to dumping its toxic waste in Ringwood, New Jersey. FMC operated a huge assembly plant in Mahwah, New Jersey, from 1955 through June 1980.
Sunday, June 19, 2022
Is Medicare-For-All a Prescription for Infectious Diseases in the Workplace?
The workers’ compensation system nationally has been challenged over the last two plus years of the COVID Pandemic. The multi-state administered workers’ compensation program is based on a litigious patchwork of state programs with varying degrees of eligibility, procedures, and benefits.
Federal Court: Roundup Subject to US EPA Review
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Environmental Protection Agency must reevaluate glyphosate, a weedkiller used in Roundup. The court determined that the chemical poses a serious health hazard and is likely to cause human cancer.