Publications
There are two different systems for classifying marital property in the United States: the common law property system and the community property system. Most states, including Connecticut and New York, utilize the common law property system. Under this system, property acquired by a married person during marriage is the property of that person separately, unless […]
Health & Safety Committees Workers’ Compensation Commission officials currently are visiting employers to determine whether they are in compliance with the regulations promulgated by the Commission last year requiring certain employers to establish Health and Safety Committees. These visits take approximately 30 minutes. Among the information the Commission is looking for is the name of […]
Domicile is a subjective concept — it depends on your intent. However, when disputes arise over a person’s domicile, courts look at a number of objective factors to aid them in determining a person’s domicile. The following list contains some of the factors courts have considered as indicative of an intent to establish domicile in […]
Wiggin and Dana LLP, in collaboration with Simione Consultants, LLC, has developed HIPAA resources for health care providers. This includes a three-CD- set designed to help providers implement and comply with the Privacy and Security Rules. HIPAAPassport is divided into manageable “Project Guides” on HIPAA topics. Each Project Guide contains a “plain English” summary of […]
As we have in the past, Wiggin & Dana will shortly be offering another series of sexual harassment prevention training workshops to help employers comply with the training requirements under Connecticut law. The sessions will be held in April in each of Wiggin & Dana’s three offices. A separate notice with dates and registration information […]
New Head of OFCCP: Deputy Assistant Secretary Charles James took office on June 12, 2001. Prior to joining the OFCCP, Mr. James spent 21 years in the private sector, most recently as the Manager of EEO and Affirmative Action for Bell Atlantic. His stated goal is to be friendly to business. Important issues that he […]
The use of electronic mail, or E-mail as it is commonly referred to, is increasing in the workplace by geometric proportions. However, the potential pitfalls are not always obvious. For example, one company was hit with six sexual harassment suits after an employee downloaded adult computer bulletin board entries from the Internet and sent them […]
Being the new kid on the block is not easy. Start-up companies that arebeginning to grow rapidly face many challenges. Among them is the needfor space. Like the old line about going broke, it happens slowly, thensuddenly. So, what is an executive of a young growing company to do whenthe parents want their garage back, […]
The United States Department of Commerce has recently published draft international safe harbor principles in response to European Union legislation relating to transfers of personal data. If officially adopted, the international safe harbor principles may have the effect of reducing the potential burden placed upon U.S.-EU trade and commerce by the EU legislation. On April […]
On March 26, 1999, a panel of experts in antitrust and computer law gathered for the 1999 Wiggin & Dana Symposium at the University of Connecticut School of Law. Sponsored by Wiggin & Dana, and run by the Connecticut Law Review, the conference discussed what some have declared to be the antitrust trial of the […]
This Spring, in his capacity as Chair of the Antitrust & Trade Regulation Committee of the Corporate Bar Association of Westchester and Fairfield Counties, Bob Langer moderated two programs featuring prominent state government officials. In April, Bob moderated a presentation by recently elected New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. The discussion with Attorney General Spitzer […]
For years, a committee of renowned professors, practitioners, licensorsand licensees have worked on a commercial code and legal infrastructurefor the information age. The result of these efforts is UCITA (the“Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act”). UCITA attempts toprovide uniform state laws governing software and e-commerce. To date,Virginia and Maryland have signed UCITA into law, and at […]
Many companies mistakenly believe that when they hire a freelancer orconsultant to perform some work (e.g., design a new website), thecompany owns the rights in the work because it paid for it. This,however, is generally not the case. In fact, the copyright doctrine of“work-for-hire” putting ownership of the copyright in the employer, notthe creator, is […]
Companies with websites should be aware that they can face liability despite the absence of specific Internet privacy policy legislation. In two recent cases, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has exercised its authority by taking enforcement action against companies with websites that compromised or impeded individual rights of privacy due to inadequate privacy notices and […]
Long-awaited patent reform legislation was signed into law in November1999. Some of the reforms are non-contentious. For example, the patentterm extension provisions provide a time extension to a patent’s term asrecompense for delays arising in the Patent Office prior to grant of theU.S. patent. The provision regarding invention promoters attempts toprovide remedies against fraudulent promotions. […]
The use of covenants not to compete is becoming increasingly common, perhaps most notably in the sales and technology arenas. Unlike certain other states, there is no explicit statute in Connecticut that addresses the enforceability of such covenants. Employers need to understand, however, that while covenants not to compete are not currently prohibited by Connecticut […]
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) marks a new era of information management. HIPAA mandated the nation-wide standardization of concepts and practices for assuring the privacy and security of health information. Since the enactment of HIPAA, all segments of the health care industry have witnessed a heightened awareness of patient privacy […]
Last month, the U. S. Immigration & Naturalization Service (“INS”) announced a major restructuring that will affect the processing of all visa applications, including employment based immigrant and non-immigrant applications. The restructuring fulfills a campaign promise by President Bush to attempt to improve the processing times for employment based non-immigrant petitions and permanent resident petitions. […]
Recently, in Lyons v. The Legal Aid Society, the Second Circuit held that an employer might be required to pay for a parking space as a reasonable accommodation to a disabled employee, even though it does not as a matter of policy provide parking to any other employees. Beth Lyons, a Legal Aid staff attorney […]
In a case of first impression, a federal district court in Illinois recently held that supervisors can be held individually liable for violations of the Family Medical Leave Act if they exercise sufficient control over an employee’s working conditions. The court distinguished cases declining to impose personal liability under Title VII, like those we have […]
If a paid union organizer applied for a job at a non-union company, most employers would probably refuse to interview that applicant, fearing that the applicant would attempt to organize the company or otherwise pose an unionization threat. In National Labor Relations Board v. Town & Country Electric, Inc., however, the United States Supreme Court […]
On October 3, 2000 the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission(EEOC) issued new guidance on the application of certainanti-discrimination laws to health and life insurance benefits,long-term and short-term disability benefits, severance benefits,pensions and other retirement benefits and early retirement incentivesoffered by employers. Discrimination Based on Pregnancy Under the Pregnancy DiscriminationAct, an employee benefit plan must cover […]
Our page one article discusses the Ellerth-Faragher affirmative defense to claims of illegal harassment and the importance of an effective anti-harassment policy. An integral part of any such policy is the ability to promptly and effectively respond to employee complaints. Following is a brief summary of how to conduct an investigation of a harassment complaint. […]
Connecticut theoretically remains an “employment at will” state but, like an increasing number of other states, court-created exceptions to that doctrine appear to be swallowing the rule. Recently, in Torosyan v. Boehringer Ingelbeim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Connecticut’s highest court significantly eroded the employment at will doctrine with a ruling that severely restricts an employer’s right to […]
The U.S. Department of Labor has issued regulations, effective December13, 2000, addressing affirmative action requirements for federalcontractors and subcontractors (broadly referred to hereafter as"contractors') under Executive Order 11246. The new regulations includeseveral significant changes that will directly affect a coveredemployer's affirmative action plans. Employers are not required to makeany changes to their existing affirmative action […]
Recently a number of courts, including one in Connecticut, have been asked to decide whether an individual supervisor who commits a discriminatory act under Title VII can be held personally liable along with the employer. Although the future is unclear on this issue, a recent decision by a Connecticut federal district court, Schaffer v. Ames […]
Employers who sponsor disability benefit plans in which benefits are reduced by social security disability benefits should be aware that the US. Department of Health and Human Services recently issued new regulations providing for the premature suspension or termination of social security disability benefits in certain cases involving drug or alcohol abuse. The new requirements […]
On May 24, 1999, the United States Supreme Court, in California Dental Association v. FTC, 119 S.Ct. 1604 (1999), ruled that a professional associations prohibitions on certain types of truthful, nondeceptive advertising, with the asserted objective of preventing false or deceptive advertising, deserved a thorough evaluation of competitive and anticompetitive effects before the restrictions could […]
1. What legal issues are raised when an employer lays off employees?Depending upon the size of the employer and the number of employeesbeing laid off, the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act("WARN") may be implicated. As discussed more fully below, WARN appliesonly to employers with 100 or more employees. Other issues, eachdiscussed below, that employers […]
In the last issue of the Employment Advisory (see “Supreme Court to Look at Tax Treatment of Age Settlements”) we reported on Commissioner of Internal Revenue V. Schleier, a case pending before the United States Supreme Court which would resolve the issue of whether damages or settlements under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act were […]