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.

On Friday, October 7, 2022, the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) announced that applications for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Public Assistance Grant Program are due by October 29, 2022. FEMA provides disaster recovery assistance, but the process for recovering costs is complicated, and FEMA has broad discretion to determine whether applicants and their expenses are eligible.