On October 31, Carlyle Aviation Partners LLC and Carlyle Aviation Partners Ltd. filed a complaint against a group of insurance companies and re-insurers in Florida state court alleging that the insurers failed to pay out for losses stemming from the seizure of their airplanes in Russia, following the start of the conflict in Ukraine. While the case is in its infancy, it is anticipated that a key issue will turn on the interpretation of the policy language and likely on whether this situation is subject to any exclusions.

Virtual currency mixers blend different streams of cryptocurrency to provide privacy about the source of funds that are being transferred through the financial system. While not illegal, currency mixers are widely viewed as a mechanism used to facilitate money laundering. The U.S. Department of the Treasury is cracking down on these virtual currency mixers.

On Friday, October 7, 2022, the Russian government moved forward by presidential decree to disenfranchise the owners of the Sakhalin-1 energy project, including the foreign nationals of several countries that the Russian government designated as “unfriendly countries.” Russia has applied the “unfriendly country” designation to any country, including the United States, that has joined in international sanctions against Russia.

Employers beware! The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is significantly expanding its “Severe Violator Enforcement Program” (SVEP). Employers that are placed into the program by OSHA will be significantly scrutinized, with the potential for very damaging information about their failure to maintain a safe workplace being made public for customers, partners, and vendors to see.

In recent weeks, the U.S. government has taken actions on multiple fronts to step up sanctions pressure against Russia. These new developments affect many types of business dealings, and U.S. companies should be alert to their ever-increasing need for vigilance to avoid potential legal vulnerability and adverse consequences to their reputation and bottom line.

On Wednesday, October 19, 2022, two U.S. Attorney’s Offices, the Eastern District of New York (EDNY) and the District of Connecticut – with the support of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Task Force KleptoCapture – charged nearly a dozen individuals and two Europe-based corporate entities with multiple violations of U.S. laws, including exporting civil-military, dual-use technology to Russia in violation of U.S. sanctions laws. U.S. individuals and corporations should take note of this increased enforcement focus on sanctions violations.

On October 7, 2022, the Appellate Division, Fourth Judicial Department concluded that the statute repealing New York’s Emergency or Disaster Treatment Protection Act (the EDTPA) is to be given prospective application and not retroactive application, as has been hotly contested by plaintiffs’ firms in the midst of a recent glut of nursing home litigation cases.

On September 14, 2022, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit decided an important question under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in Uronis v. Cabot Oil & Gas Corp., __ F.4th __, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 25727. In this case, the plaintiff asserted that his job application to a prospective employer was denied because the employer anticipated that he would soon be filing an opt-in notice to join a collective action filed against the employer under the FLSA.