Month: January 2022

The COVID-19 Vaccination – Testing Mandate Is Not Completely Dead

  On January 13, 2022, the Supreme Court prohibited OSHA’s enforcement of its nationwide emergency vaccination and testing standard declaring the scope of the regulation beyond OSHA’s statutory authority. On January 25, OSHA conceded the point and withdrew the standard. But even as OSHA withdrew the standard, OSHA made clear that employers are not relieved of their obligation to protect employees from the risks of ... Read More

Recently Signed New York Law Sets New Mandatory Insurance Disclosures

[Update] On February 25, 2022, Governor Kathy Hochul passed into law Senate Bill 7882 scaling back the Act’s most stringent requirements including, among other things, eliminating the disclosure requirements for defendants in litigation pending prior to the Act’s passage, extending the time to make disclosures from sixty days to ninety days after service of an answer, and removing from disclosures information ... Read More

Charitable Conservation Easements Found A Friend In The 11th Circuit

Many Tax Court cases have been decided based upon an obscure Treasury Regulation, upholding the IRS’ 100% disallowance of charitable conservation easement deductions.  The 11th Circuit struck down the Regulation, holding that it is “arbitrary and capricious”.  A rare win for taxpayers. The Bloomberg article attached below was written by our own attorney, Nancy O. Kuhn. A Rare Victory For Taxpayers ... Read More

Attorneys Art Burger and Caroline Lee-Ghosal to Present “Discussing Common Ethical Dilemmas Today’s Attorneys Face” CLE for the DC BAR

On March 3, 2022, Attorneys Art Burger and Caroline Lee-Ghosal will participate in a CLE titled "Discussing Common Ethical Dilemmas Today’s Attorneys Face" for the DC BAR from 6:00-8:15PM. The link to register for the event is below. "Discussing Common Ethical Dilemmas Today’s Attorneys Face" for the DC BAR ... Read More

Court Limits Retirement Benefits For Those Who Received Civil-Service Pay

David Babcock was a dual-status military technician, which meant he received both military pay and pension payments through his service with the National Guard, and also received civil-service pay from the Office of Personnel Management. After he retired, he applied for Social Security benefits. The Social Security Administration considered his civil-service pay to be a “windfall” and reduced his SSA ... Read More

Court Blocks OSHA Rule Requiring COVID-19 Vaccinations For Workers

The Occupational Health and Safety Administration, to combat the spread of COVID-19, issued a rule mandating that all employers who have at least 100 employees require that those workers be vaccinated—affecting some 84 million workers nationwide. The rule was enacted under an “emergency temporary standard” process which avoided the typical notice-and-comment procedures for rules. States and private parties challenged the ... Read More

Court Allows Vaccination Mandate For Health Care Workers To Go Into Effect

The Secretary of Health and Human Services issued a rule in November of 2021 requiring all health care workers be vaccinated or have a valid exemption in order for the health care facility to receive Medicare or Medicaid funding. Certain states sued to block the mandate, and the lower courts enjoined enforcement of the rule pending a determination on the ... Read More

Now is the Time to Prepare for OSHA’s Enforcement of the Emergency Temporary Standard on COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing

On January 7, 2022, the Supreme Court heard argument on requests to stay enforcement of OSHA’s Vaccination, Testing and Face Coverings Standard, a workplace safety standard adopted to deter the spread of COVID-19. OSHA previously announced that enforcement of the non-testing requirements would begin as soon as January 10, 2022, with enforcement of the testing requirements delayed until February 9, 2022. Unless ... Read More