Reacting to concerns that U.S. sanctions could be viewed as impeding exports or global transactions related to urgently needed food, fertilizer, agricultural equipment, or medical supplies, on July 14, 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a fact sheet clarifying that “agricultural and medical trade are not targets” of U.S. sanctions.

On April 28, 2022, the New York Court of Appeals issued three significant decisions that chip away at the formerly impenetrable ladder cases that arise under New York Labor Law § 240(1). Less than a week later, Lewis Brisbois, relying on one of these decisions, successfully defeated a plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on a Labor Law § 240(1) claim in Bronx County.

On July 8, 2022, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti signed an ordinance approving a raise to the minimum wage for employees of “covered healthcare facilities” in the City of Los Angeles to $25.00 per hour. The ordinance will go into effect on August 7, 2022 and provides for further annual increases to the minimum wage, beginning on January 1, 2024.

The City of Los Angeles formally adopted the Hotel Workers Ordinance on July 8, 2022. The key changes of this ordinance include an increase in minimum wage for all workers employed at large hotels, restrictions on the amount of square footage housekeeping employees can clean per shift, and additional protections for housekeeping employees.

On July 1, 2022, the California minimum wage increased in 13 California cities and in the counties of Los Angeles and San Francisco. The cities of Alameda, Belmont, Berkeley, Emeryville, Foster City, Fremont, Los Angeles, Malibu, Milpitas, Pasadena, San Francisco, Santa Monica, Malibu, and West Hollywood are all subject to minimum wage increases and employers should adjust accordingly in order to remain in compliance:

On June 27, 2022, following the G7 annual summit in Madrid, Spain, President Biden issued a statement affirming the United States commitment to levy tariffs on imports from Russia, impose sanctions on entities aiding Russia, and restrict Russian access to industrial inputs services and technologies. These measures will impact a substantial number of U.S. industrial sectors and businesses, and create additional considerations for U.S. companies navigating a complex maze of potential legal risks.

On June 28, 2022, the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued a joint alert advising financial institutions to be aware of individuals or entities attempting to circumvent U.S. export controls related to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

On June 30, 2022 – the final day of the October 2021 term – the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review whether California’s worker classification law runs afoul of the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 as applied to truck drivers. This blow to 70,000+ independent contractors in California will reverberate across the national supply chain and interstate commerce.