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Thoughts for Employers from the Supreme Court Affirmative Action Decision
The Supreme Court recently reversed the longstanding rule that race can be considered as a plus factor among many factors when making...
Paul Peter Nicolai
Jul 18, 20234 min read
FTC to Scrutinize Commercial Biometric Information Use
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has released a policy statement announcing an intention to combat unfair and deceptive acts related to...
Paul Peter Nicolai
Jul 11, 20233 min read
NLRB Opens Second Front on Non-Compete Agreements
The NLRB has initiated a new effort to address non-compete agreements. The NLRB General Counsel has issued a policy memo expressing its...
Paul Peter Nicolai
Jul 4, 20234 min read
FTC Proposed Non-Compete Rule Update
The FTC’s proposed rule would effectively ban worker non-compete provisions by deeming them an unfair method of competition under the FTC...
Paul Peter Nicolai
Jun 27, 20233 min read
Intellectual Property Due Diligence in M & A
In today’s digital world, companies are building and accumulating significant intellectual property portfolios, whether trademarks in...
Paul Peter Nicolai
Jun 21, 20233 min read
INFORM Consumers Act Requires Verified Unauthorized Third-Party Seller Information
Anonymous unauthorized third-party sellers are a nagging problem for most brands. Although some online marketplaces have taken steps to...
Paul Peter Nicolai
Jun 13, 20232 min read
US Department of Labor Issues FMLA Interpretive Bulletin on Telework
The US Department of Labor (“DOL”) has issued a Field Assistance Bulletin (“FAB”) explaining how to apply the eligibility rules under the...
Paul Peter Nicolai
Jun 6, 20232 min read
Delaware Court Confirms Corporate Officers Owe the Same Fiduciary Duties as Directors
The Delaware Court of Chancery denied a motion to dismiss filed by a former employee of the former employer’s claims that he breached his...
Paul Peter Nicolai
May 30, 20231 min read
Workplace Antitrust - Increased Enforcement
Congress passed antitrust laws to counter monopoly control and prevent companies from acting in concert to control prices. The laws...
Paul Peter Nicolai
May 23, 20232 min read
$17 Billion in Damages for Fingerprinting Employees
The Illinois biometric privacy law says no private entity may collect, capture, purchase, receive through trade, or otherwise obtain a...
Paul Peter Nicolai
May 16, 20232 min read
Product Disparagement Claim Survives
A medical device company that designs and manufactures customized hip and knee replacements sued an insurance company that characterized...
Paul Peter Nicolai
May 9, 20231 min read
COVID-19 Worker Compensation Denied
A registered nurse filed a Massachusetts worker's compensation claim for temporary total incapacity benefits saying she contracted...
Paul Peter Nicolai
May 2, 20231 min read
Profit from selling an urban redevelopment project is not subject to taxes
According to the Massachusetts Supreme Court, the state cannot impose taxes on the capital gain earned from the sale of an urban...
Paul Peter Nicolai
Apr 28, 20231 min read
NLRB Imposes Restrictions on Severance Agreements
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled that employers violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) when they present...
Paul Peter Nicolai
Apr 25, 20233 min read
Burden of Proving Overtime Exemption Toughened
The US District Court gave an employer a summary judgment in an overtime case, concluding that the dispatchers and controllers fell...
Paul Peter Nicolai
Apr 18, 20231 min read
CCPA Employment and B2B Exemptions Expired in January
The California legislature adjourned without extending the two business-friendly exemptions of the California Consumer Privacy Act...
Paul Peter Nicolai
Apr 11, 20231 min read
Commercial Lease Damages Denied
A tenant defaulted on a commercial lease two months after entering into a five-year lease. As is frequently the case in commercial...
Paul Peter Nicolai
Apr 4, 20231 min read
Protecting Trade Secrets
A company’s intellectual property (IP) is among its most valuable assets. Anything that helps give a company its competitive edge can be...
Paul Peter Nicolai
Mar 28, 20238 min read
Right to Modify Employee Handbook Voids Arbitration
An employer who puts an arbitration agreement in an employee handbook cannot enforce it if it maintains the right to modify the handbook....
Paul Peter Nicolai
Mar 21, 20232 min read
Home Improvement Contractor Law Expanded
A contractor mismanaged funds paid by homeowners so that he needed more money to finish the project, failed to pay subcontractors, and...
Paul Peter Nicolai
Mar 14, 20231 min read
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