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.

Wilmington Managing Partner Francis G.X. Pileggi recently participated in a video interview with Reuters, during which he discussed Twitter’s lawsuit against Elon Musk involving Mr. Musk’s attempt to terminate the $44 billion agreement for his purchase of the company based on his belief that Twitter misrepresented the number of “bots” on the social media platform.

Chicago Partner Mary A. Smigielski recently spoke with Law360 for an article highlighting several major cases the Illinois Supreme Court will be deciding in the coming months, including two cases involving issues that will affect dozens of pending Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) matters, as well as a case regarding the constitutionality of a prejudgment interest statute.

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.

Lewis Brisbois is pleased to welcome entertainment attorneys Matt Cottingham and Austin Wells to its Nashville office as partner and associate, respectively, in the firm’s Entertainment, Media & Sports Practice.

In a direct challenge to the regulatory authority that Players Associations have historically maintained over the conduct of the agents that they oversee and certify, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has ruled that three of five state law claims asserted by a certified agent against the NFL Players Association are not preempted by federal labor laws.

Delaware Managing Partner Francis G.X. Pileggi recently spoke with Law360 and Reuters for articles regarding the legal dispute between Elon Musk and Twitter over Mr. Musk’s refusal to honor the parties’ $44 billion agreement for his purchase of the social media platform.

Phoenix Partner and Co-Chair of Lewis Brisbois’ National Transportation Practice Julie Maurer was recently quoted in a Law360 article, titled “How Justices Impacted Transportation: Midyear Review,” which discusses recent notable U.S. Supreme Court decisions impacting the transportation industry and identifies legal questions that still remain.

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:

Just over a year ago, the NCAA announced that it was necessary to take “short-term action” and introduce an “interim” policy regarding name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights for student-athletes. At that time, it confirmed that it was going to continue working with Congress to develop and adopt federal legislation to support student-athletes’ use of their NIL rights and create a national standard of NIL rules.

Chicago Associate Brigid K. Ndege recently co-authored an article for the American Bar Association (ABA) Business Law section publication Business Law Today analyzing a recent United States Supreme Court decision in Siegel v. Fitzgerald. 

On June 9, 2022, Governor Pritzker signed the Family Bereavement Leave Act (formerly titled the Child Bereavement Leave Act) into law. The statute will take effect on January 1, 2023, and its applicability mirrors that of the federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), applying to employers (including public employers) with at least 50 employees and employees who have worked for such employers for at least 12 months and at least 1,250 hours in the preceding 12-month period.

The number of states enacting comprehensive privacy laws is growing, adding to the existing patchwork of privacy, security, and data breach notification laws that keep legal and compliance personnel busy. This five-part series will highlight key provisions in a few of the new comprehensive privacy laws and regulations. Each week we will examine laws in a new state and provide recommendations on what steps businesses should consider taking. In Part V, we discuss the California Privacy Rights Act.

The U.S. Department of Education released its long-awaited proposed amendments to the regulations for Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking issued in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of Title IX. The Department has stated that the intent of the proposed amendments is to “restore crucial protections for students who are victims of sexual harassment, assault, and sex-based discrimination” that were weakened by previous regulatory changes.