Dallas Austin

On January 13, 2022, the United States Supreme Court stayed the vaccine mandate requiring all employers with 100 or more employees to ensure that their employees are vaccinated against COVID-19.  The highly anticipated ruling came after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals stayed enforcement of the mandate and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals then lifted the stay, requiring so-called “large” employers to comply with the mandate or face significant penalties.  The Supreme Court’s opinion continued the stay, eviscerating the mandate. The Supreme Court found that  the Department of Labor

The Biden Administration has taken several steps in the past two weeks to increase availability of COVID-19 tests and masks.  Aside from the much publicized free COVID test kits available from the government and N95 masks now being made available from local pharmacies and centers, private insurers are also required to pay or reimburse insureds for the cost of at-home tests. A day earlier than announced, on January 18, 2022, the Biden administration launched COVIDtests.gov – providing Americans free access to at-home COVID tests. With ordering 1 billion tests for distribution, the roll-out i

On January 3, 2022, after seven days of deliberation, a California jury found Elizabeth Holmes guilty of 4 of 11 counts related to her industry-disrupting blood testing technology and her company, Theranos.  The jury found her not guilty for defrauding patients, but guilty of more than half of the counts relating to defrauding investors.  Holmes is now subject to a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison and a sizable fine. As a quick recap, Holmes started Theranos when she was 19 years old, after dropping out of Stanford. Her stated goal was to disrupt the conventional blood testing in

Between November 30, 2021 and December 22, 2021, four federal courts enjoined President Biden’s order that would have required federal contractors to have all their employees vaccinated against COVID-19.  One of the injunctions, issued by a Georgia federal court, applies to all 50 states, including Texas.  While further appeals are likely, for the time being, the vaccination requirement is not enforceable. The Seminal Questions The federal courts that have addressed the vaccine mandate have grappled with three very thorny questions: Did President Biden have the authority to issue the ma

Separate and aside from the legal travails of the vaccine mandate for federal contractors, the vaccine mandate for employers with 100 or more employees has been subject to numerous legal challenges, too.  For the time being, the vaccine mandate is in effect, though the US Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments later this month on its enforceability and constitutionality. At President Biden’s request, in November 2021, the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS), requiring employers with 100 or more employe

Widespread scrutiny of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has prompted a flood of PPP loan fraud investigations by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) in coordination with a number of other federal investigative agencies, such as the IRS and FBI. At the same time, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has announced that borrowers who received $2 million or more in PPP funds will automatically be subject to an audit, as will some borrowers who received smaller loans, as part of an ongoing effort to identify any potential abuses of the federal loan program. If you are a small business o

We have all been there. You take a bite of your favorite pastry and think to yourself, “this needs more filling” or “this really does not taste like it should.” Well, at least two people went to enjoy their strawberry Pop Tarts and decided enough was enough. In August, an Illinois consumer, Ms. Anita Harris, filed a class action lawsuit in federal court styled Harris v. Kellogg Sales Co. regarding her “Frosted Strawberry” Pop-Tart. More recently, a New York consumer, Ms. Elizabeth Russett, filed a class action lawsuit in federal court styled Russett v. Kellogg Sales Co. regarding h