Coronavirus Update 6–2–2020: Justice Department indicts employee for COVID-19 workplace fraud

In mid-April the FBI warned employers to be on the lookout for fake COVID-19 diagnoses, doctors' notes, and other coronavirus-related documents from employees. The Justice Department has now indicted the first employee for committing this new breed of fraud.

The Justice Department provides the details:

I am at a loss for words…

I cannot ignore the appalling tragedies we experienced over the past week, first through the murder of George Floyd, and then through the riots and destruction left in its wake. 

Yet, I cannot find the words.

So, I'll simply share those of the two greatest civil rights leaders our world has ever know.

Martin Luther King, Jr.: "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

And Nelson Mandela: "No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite."

And leave you with a song.

 

☮️ ❤️ & 🙏

Coronavirus Update 5-29-2020: Friday olio — an A+ set of reopening guidelines, a webinar, and a playlist

A few shares for your Friday. 

First, on Wednesday the CDC published sweeping recommendations for reopening office buildings. According to the CDC, employers should, among other COVID-19 changes, take employee temperatures and check their symptoms upon arrival, space desks six feet apart or install shields between them, bar seating in common areas, and mandate face coverings. The CDC is also recommending updates to HVAC systems and abolishing communal perks like coffee pots and bulk snacks. 

Coronavirus Update 5-28-2020: Is your business ready for the COVID-19 golden age of union organizing?

Among the many lessons we will learn from the COVID-19 pandemic is its demonstration of the importance of union membership for essential workers.

Of all the injustices exposed by the pandemic, the risks faced by non-union workers have become the most apparent. Non-union workers are being asked to risk their safety with little or no protections of their own.

Gary Perinar (executive secretary-treasurer of the Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters), The importance of unions is more obvious than ever during the COVID-19 pandemic, Chicago Sun-Times, Apr. 30, 2020

One of the unexpected byproducts of the COVID-19 pandemic is a corresponding rise in union organizing. This crisis has magnified attention on key labor union agenda items and talking points such as worker safety and higher pay. Unions have not been shy about pressing these issues not only for current members but also more importantly for potential members.

Coronavirus Update 5-27-2020: Is McDonald’s really a public nuisance?

As I've written in the past, it's difficult bordering on impossible for an employee to sue their employer based on an alleged COVID-19 exposure at the business. First, they have to overcome the issue of workers' comp exclusivity. And if they can manage to clear that, they still have the causation problem of proving that the exposure of this highly transmittable virus happened at work (as opposed to anywhere else in the world). 

There's nothing like a pandemic, however, to spark the creativity of lawyers. Workers and their families have filed a class-action lawsuit against McDonald's Corporation seeking to have the fast-food conglomerate's alleged failure to comply with health guidance and provide PPE declared a public nuisance.

Coronavirus Update 5-26-2020: When an employee isn’t social distancing outside of work

How did you spend your Memorial Day weekend? Mine was way more mundane than years past. I watched my nephew receive his high school diploma and pre-record his valedictory address in an individual, family-only ceremony. We walked the dogs a bunch. We went to Lowes, masks on faces (the first store in which I've been inside other than a grocery store in over two months). I BBQed for my wife and kids. 

Other people chose less COVID-appropriate holiday weekend activities.

This video is on Snapchat in the Lake of the Ozarks? Unreal. What are we doing? pic.twitter.com/m0qsEQ4KLp

— Max Baker (@maxbaker_15) May 24, 2020

Scenes like this one were repeated all over the country. Will you be surprised when COVID-19 cells spring up in two weeks linked to these mass gatherings? Because they will, and I won't be.

Here's my question. What do you do if you see one of your employees in one of these social-gathering viral videos? Do you welcome him or her back into the workplace today with open arms? 

Coronavirus Update 5-22-2020: We really don’t want our employees being “Tisons"

Social media is congratulating Tison, a Costco employee who turned away an angry customer who refused to wear a mask, a condition required by Costco to shop in its stores.

Kevin and Karen get shopping cart taken away at #Costco || ✌🏼 #wearethepeople #COVID19 #coronavirusuk #COVIDIDIOTS pic.twitter.com/LDeB1hDz9L

— ONLY iN LVNV ➐ (@OnlyInLVNV) May 18, 2020

Coronavirus Update 5-21-2020: Ohio judge grants Pyrrhic victory to gyms closed by Stay at Home Order

The 1851 Center for Constitutional Law sued the State of Ohio on behalf of 35 gyms forced to close because of Ohio's Stay of Home Order, claiming that the forced closure violated their constitutional rights. Yesterday, Judge Eugene Lucci of the Lake County Court of Common Pleas agreed. He issued a preliminary injunction temporarily halting the State's application of the Stay at Home Order against them.  

Coronavirus Update 5-20-2020: Governor DeWine’s “Ohioans Protecting Ohioans” advisory is a colossal miscalculation

This past weekend offered a perfect coronavirus storm in Ohio. The weather on Saturday was postcard-perfect, and restaurant and bar patios were open for business. This combination caused scenes like this one on the banks of the Cuyahoga River:

Some serious social distancing goin on in the flats #secondwavecomin pic.twitter.com/JNsx7mVBQo

— Pete Marek (@PeteMarek) May 16, 2020

Governor Mike DeWine reacted swiftly to these reports by assembling "a large contingent of law enforcement and health officials from across state agencies and from our local communities" to spot-check and investigate restaurants and bars. He further made clear that restaurants that ignore his reopening requirements could face prosecution and lose their liquor license. 

Yesterday, however, Governor DeWine also stated that the State is now moving from requirements imposed on people to strong recommendations for people to follow.  

Coronavirus Update 5-19-2020: Lawsuit highlights risk of businesses not reopening safely and correctly

An employee has sued a Utah protein bar company after she contracted COVID-19. She claims that she became ill because her employer ignored her safety-related complaints and did not take sufficient steps after other co-workers first got coronavirus. You can read her lawsuit here.

Coronavirus Update 5-18-2020: House proposes significant expansions to FFCRA paid leave

Late Friday, the House of Representatives passed the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act, H.R.6800. Among other things, it proposes significant clarifications and expansions to the Emergency Family And Medical Leave and Emergency Paid Sick Leave provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.

What are these proposed changes?

Coronavirus Update 5-15-2020: One that got away … and one that didn’t

There's no such thing as bad publicity. Or at least that's how the saying goes. 

Monday evening I received the following Twitter DM from TMZ Live: "Hey, have any interest in being on TV to comment on a story for TMZ Live via Skype?" Never one to turn down a chance to be a TV, I replied and started the ball rolling towards the segment I was to record via Skype on Wednesday. 

In hindsight, I should have asked for more specifics about the topic I'd be asked to discuss. I assumed that because I curate my online presence around being an employment lawyer (and lately a COVID-19 lawyer) they had reached out because they had a topic in their queue that touched on my professional background. 

I severely miscalculated.

Coronavirus Update 5-14-2020: Workers’ Comp waivers aren’t just a bad idea, they are also almost certainly illegal

Consider this headline from the Las Vegas Review-Journal: Restaurant, fearing coronavirus lawsuit, creates liability waiver. The article goes on to describe a Las Vegas restaurant, Nacho Daddy, which is requiring its employees to sign a waiver of liability before it will allow them to return to work. Says the company's co-owner and president, Paul Hymas, “If someone’s not comfortable with COVID being out there, then they probably shouldn’t be working."

I am not a Nevada lawyer. I know nothing about Nevada employment laws. But, if Nevada is anything like Ohio, workers' compensation is employee's exclusive remedy for any injuries an employee suffers related to work, and an employer would be immune from any other injury claims. 

Coronavirus Update 5-13-2020: Workplace virus screening tools aren’t perfect, but they are at least part of a solution

How do you protect your employees during a pandemic? This is the question this New York Times article asks. As states reopen and businesses recall employees from furlough or temporary work-from-home arrangements, employers are trying to figure out exactly how to best ensure (without guaranteeing) the health and safety of their employees.

Some options highlighted by the NYT piece? Apps that let employees log symptoms, daily health self-assessments, mandatory temperature checks, and immunity badges for those with COVID-19 antibodies. 

Coronavirus Update 5-12-2020: You have every right to be a 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵, and we have every right to fire you for it

"Covidiot: A person who acts like an irresponsible idiot during the Covid-19 pandemic, ignoring common sense, decency, science, and professional advice leading to the further spread of the virus and needless deaths of thousands."

A Dallas law firm has terminated the employment of a document services manager after it discovered his threatening, offensive, racist, and very public Facebook post taking issue with mandatory face masks.

"No more masks. Any business that tells me to put on a mask (Whole Foods on Lomo Alto) in Dallas will get told to kiss my Corona ass and will lose my business forever. It's time to stop this BULLSHIT. Do I have to show the lame security guard outside of a ghetto store my CV19 test results? I will show him my Glock 21 shooting range results. With Hornady hollow points. Pricey ammo, but worth it in this situation. They have reached the limit. I have more power than they do.....they just don't know it yet."

Coronavirus Update 5-11-2020: The 6th(!) set of FAQs from the DOL on the FFCRA

Consider the following scenario.

An employee has been working from home productively and without issue since the state Shelter in Place order took effect. Now, however, he is requesting paid sick leave and expanded FMLA under the FFCRA to care for his children because their school is closed because of COVID-19. You want to: (a) ask the employee why he is unable to continue working from home or if he has pursued alternative child care arrangements; and (b) deny the leave request without a reasonable explanation.

If you carry through with your plan, will you violate the FFCRA?

According to the most recent FAQs published by the Department of Labor, the answer is yes.

Coronavirus Update 5-8-2020: Can you legally refuse to return to work to someone at “high risk” for COVID-19 complications?

As you start recalling employees to your physical workplace from remote work-from-home arrangements or furlough, you are concerned about an employee who has an underlying medical issue that the CDC says places him at a higher risk for complications from coronavirus.

Can you refuse to return this employee to work?

According to recently updated guidance from the EEOC, the answer might be “yes.”

Coronavirus Update 5-7-2020: Things I miss 😢

These are the top 10 things I miss (in no particular order):

1/ Seeing family and friends in person. (happy birthday Mom!)

2/ Hugs and handshakes.

3/ Dining out.

Coronavirus Update 5-6-2020: How do parents return to work without available childcare?

Childcare is the issue that has gotten the least attention in discussions about employees returning to work. As states begin to slowly reopen and return employees to work, working parents are left wondering who will care for their children if schools, daycares, and camps are closed.

Coronavirus Update 5-5-2020: Ohio encouraging employers to report AWOL employees to ODJFS

Last week I asked how employers could encourage employees to return to work when unemployment benefits pay them more than their jobs. One suggestion I offered was to hit employees with the stick of unemployment-benefit termination.

Employees who refuse return-to-work offers might be disqualified from collecting further unemployment benefits (unless their refusal is because of coronavirus), and you can advise employees that refuse a recall that you will be asking the state to terminate their benefits. 

Late last week, the State of Ohio provided a clear reminder to employers of the validity of this threat.