On April 14, 2022, the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC), the highest court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, ruled that the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) preempts state remedies under the Massachusetts Wage Act where the employees’ overtime claim arose solely under the FLSA.
Some commentators have misinterpreted the Bichai decision to mean that a medical staff and its affiliated hospital are entirely independent of each other. In reality, the two entities are practically and legally interdependent. 
On April 21, 2022, the Supreme Judicial Court determined that various losses incurred by businesses from the COVID pandemic were not a “direct that various losses incurred by businesses that stemmed from the COVID-19 pandemic were not a “direct physical loss of or damage to” their properties.
The tremendous popularity of social networks and advances in virtual reality (VR) and distributed ledger technology are helping to usher in a new technological frontier: an emerging computer-generated universe often called Metaverse.
The Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) “Mask Mandate” was recently vacated by a Florida district court on the grounds that it exceeded CDC’s statutory authority and violated the procedures for executive branch rulemaking set forth under the federal Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
In the six months since Facebook, Inc. rebranded to Meta Platforms, Inc., the idea of the “metaverse” has catapulted from a little-known science fiction fantasy to the forefront of popular culture.
Street view of Times Square
Many brands have taken steps to proactively protect their intellectual property rights for use in connection with metaverse-related goods and services. This may include filing new trademark registrations or purchasing blockchain domains. But enforcing those rights poses a significant challenge.
Under California law, employers generally must provide employees working more than five hours in a day with a meal period. These meal periods must be at least 30 minutes, duty-free, and uninterrupted. California courts and the Labor Commissioner have recognized that employers liable for premium pay.
Following in the footsteps of Californians, Coloradoans, Arizonans, and Bay Staters, denizens of the Metaverse can now step inside a dispensary and purchase cannabis products. Two brands have staked claims to their own Metaverse storefronts, where they will sell products to real-life addresses.
Non-Fungible Trademark Infringement or Nominative Fair Use Token? Nike -v- StockX Duel Is on Pace To Shape the Future of the Metaverse
Environmental justice has been at the forefront of the Biden Administration’s priorities for the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
In this inaugural episode of ArentFox Schiff’s Consumer Product Industry Group’s podcast series, the Group’s co-leaders Michelle Mancino Marsh and Lynn Fiorentino discuss the potential implications of California’s latest proposed changes to the Proposition 65 short-form warnings currently used on al
Last week, Maryland’s General Assembly overroad Governor Larry Hogan’s veto to enact the Time to Care Act of 2022 (TCA). With that, Maryland joined the growing list of jurisdictions -- including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Oregon, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island.
On March 21, the Member States of the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) approved extensive amendments to the Centre’s rules and regulations that will go into effect on July 1, 2022.
To the extent a party believes it is disadvantaged by the Federal Law, the only alternatives are: (i) passage of ameliorating Federal legislation or (ii) modification of industry-standard contracts to address the adverse impacts of the Federal Law.
- CMS estimates its proposal will result in a decrease of $320 million in Medicare Part A payments to skilled nursing facilities.
- CMS is seeking stakeholder input on the effects of direct-care staffing requirements for long-term care facilities.
Beth Reuter was terminated from her employment with the City of Methuen. On her termination date, the City failed to pay Ms. Reuter for her accrued, unused vacation time, as required by the Massachusetts Wage Act. Instead, the City waited three weeks after her termination to make the payment.
Buckle up, it’s about to get choppy.

Employers sailing in National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) waters have come to expect rough seas. By one estimate, the Board overturned more than 4,500 cumulative years of case law during the eight years of the Obama Administration.
Companies often communicate with government agencies directly or through trade associations for a variety of reasons. But what happens when an adverse party tries to use comments made to the government or membership in an advocacy group as evidence in litigation?
On Friday, April 8, 2022, the US Government added two more weapons to its artillery of actions against Russia and Belarus.
This post explains when minority shareholders may owe fiduciary duties and steps that shareholders can take to eliminate any fiduciary duties they might owe.
We’ve reported on Virginia’s first-in-the-nation, state-wide, permanent COVID-19 workplace standard. Last month, concluding that COVID-19 “no longer poses a ‘grave danger’ to employees,” the state’s Safety and Health Codes Board voted to revoke it. The revocation took effect on March 23d.
Before being acquired by American Airlines, US Airways sued Sabre for anticompetitive conduct under the Sherman Act. The case begins trial later this spring, and the district court’s recent ruling on summary judgment highlights several interesting facets of the statute of limitations.