Articles and Blogs

On Thursday, February 10, 2022, the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 passed the Senate after previously passing in the House. The bill, which President Joe Biden will reportedly sign, would amend the Federal Arbitration Act and effectively transform how parties resolve allegations of sexual harassment and assault.... READ MORE

The Plaintiff, a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist, was initially granted clinical privileges at a North Carolina Hospital (the “Hospital”) in 2010. Privileges were granted according to the Medical Staff Bylaws. Notably, in this jurisdiction, the Bylaws “formed a contract” between Plaintiff and the Hospital. In May 2017, Plaintiff was informed that she would not... READ MORE

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that the statute of limitations period for retaliation claims under the False Claims Act (“FCA”) begins to run on the date of the alleged retaliatory event, and not the date the plaintiff discovers the retaliatory event. Case Background In 2008, the plaintiff physician joined a Michigan-based... READ MORE

On January 13, the Supreme Court handed down a pair of decisions on the CMS vaccine mandate rule and the OSHA vaccine-or-test rule. In short, the Court ruled in this opinion that CMS is not prohibited from implementing its vaccine mandate for Medicare-funded facilities (the Interim Final Rule or “IFR”). In a separate opinion,... READ MORE

Because the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (“DHS”) receives federal financial assistance, it must comply with federal civil rights requirements as a recipient of that financial assistance and must ensure that its recipients of the federal financial assistance also comply with federal civil rights laws. Accordingly, any organization that receives funds from DHS to... READ MORE

As 2022 begins, the federal government, as well as some state and local governments, continue to prioritize the importance of anti-discrimination laws. Indeed, in addition to numerous anti‑discrimination laws that went into effect in 2021, many new laws were passed and signed in 2021 to go into effect in 2022. Yet, as these new... READ MORE

On December 28, 2021, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued Guidance for the Interim Final Rule – Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination (the “Guidance”). The Guidance provides direction to surveyors on assessing compliance with CMS’s November 5, 2021 Interim Final Rule (the “IFR”), which established COVID-19... READ MORE

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) announced on its website on December 27, 2021 that it was “withdrawing the non-recordkeeping portion” of its healthcare emergency temporary standard (“Healthcare ETS”). That rule, described in detail here, regulated most healthcare facilities with obligations that included, among other things, employee screening, the designation of a COVID-19 safety coordinator, removing employees... READ MORE

On December 23, 2021, the Department of State announced that consular officers are now authorized to waive the in-person interview for individuals applying for certain non-immigrant work visas through December 31, 2022. This applies to Persons in Specialty Occupations (H-1B visas); Trainees or Special Education Visitors (H-3 visas); Intracompany Transferees (L visas); Individuals with... READ MORE

*Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on December 21. On Wednesday evening, December 22, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it will hear appeals from decisions that may have a major impact on the enforceability of both the OSHA vaccine-or-test rule and the CMS vaccine mandate. Stay tuned for further developments.   In the... READ MORE