Sorry folks but unlike last year, when the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) extended the September 30 deadline for a month, those required to file in 2016 have no such luck. The deadline remains September 30. As you should know, an Employer Information Report EEO-1s (EEO-1) must be filed by: All private employers subject to...
Client AlertsCorporate & BusinessDon’t give away equity
September 23, 2016
One of the first pieces of advice I offer my clients is to resist giving away equity in their company. Oftentimes, however, clients have already granted or promised shares of stock in their corporation (or membership interests in their LLC) to an early benefactor who provided something of value to the company, an employee who...
Client AlertsLenders Take Note: U.S. Supreme Court to Decide Scope of Right to Sue Under Federal Fair Housing Act
September 22, 2016
The federal Fair Housing Act (“FHA”) outlaws discrimination in lending based not only on race, color and national origin, but also religion, sex, disability and familial status. Across the country, courts are grappling with the scope of the right to sue under the FHA, with some permitting the cases of less obvious lending discrimination plaintiffs,...
Client AlertsUpdate – Red States Sue to Stop Enactment of Obama Administration’s Changes to Federal Overtime Laws
September 21, 2016
As we previously reported, in March of 2014, President Obama unilaterally directed the Department of Labor (DOL) to review and update the requirements necessary for an employee to be considered “exempt” from overtime. The DOL dutifully complied, announcing its Final Rule on May 18, 2016, effective December 1, 2016. The Final Rule increases the minimum...
Client AlertsHouse Attempts to Stall Change to Overtime Law
September 9, 2016
Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed a bill to delay the Department of Labor’s upcoming increase to the amount of salary an employer needs to pay in order to be eligible to classify a worker as exempt from overtime. The final rule, which was announced on May 18, 2016, sets the salary threshold at $47,476...
An assisted living center being sued over a slip-and-fall accident on an icy walkway was entitled to contractual indemnity based on an indemnification clause in its winter-services contract with a landscaping company, a Superior Court judge has determined. The plaintiff, Rebecca Marie Lougee, filed the underlying suit against Benchmark Assisted Living after she fell on...
Client AlertsLand UseReal EstateBusiness-Friendly Environmental and Land Use Laws To Take Advantage Of
September 2, 2016
With the dog days of summer fading into rear view and Rhode Islanders heading back to work, it’s a good time to take stock of what the Rhode Island General Assembly did earlier this summer to stimulate Rhode Island’s commercial real estate market. Several pieces of enacted legislation, summarized below, will encourage the use of...
Client AlertsCorporate & BusinessLitigation & DisputesLaw firm disqualified after dropping client
August 11, 2016
A law firm that jettisoned a longtime client in order to hire lawyers representing a party suing that client violated the “hot potato doctrine,” a U.S. District Court judge has determined. The judge found that the doctrine, which bars attorneys from dropping one client in favor of another with adverse interests, disqualified Greenberg Traurig, along...
In the past, we have written about the impact of social and technological trends on the Rhode Island market and economy which eventually influence the law. Indeed, regardless of the form of law—statutory or judicial—neither is immune from these winds of change. In neighboring Massachusetts, a legal development in its workers’ compensation law may make...
Client AlertsOSHA Fine Increases
July 11, 2016
Effective August 1, 2016, OSHA fines will increase dramatically. The maximum fine amount per violation has not increased since 1990. President Obama signed into law a “catch-up adjustment” that increases maximum fine amounts by 78% (i.e., the difference between the October 2015 and October 1990 Consumer Price Index). Thereafter, the maximum fine increases will be...
