Coronavirus: Resources and Rapid Response Task Force

On September 14, 2020, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed Senate Bill 2380 into law. The bill establishes a rebuttable presumption for certain “essential” workers regarding diagnoses of COVID-19 for employment-related benefits, including workers’ compensation. To rebut the presumption, the employer will have to show by a preponderance of the evidence “that the worker was not exposed to the disease.” The bill also sets out that the amount of time the employee is incapacitated, including by self-quarantine, shall be considered as “on duty time.” Employees will not be required to use paid leave or any other contractual time off to cover the period of incapacitation. The law takes effect immediately, and is retroactive to March 9, 2020.

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The EEOC has issued helpful guidance on expectations for employers receiving remote working requests in the future, clarifying that an employer’s temporary shift to a remote environment does not create an obligation to accept future remote working requests.

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Another court—this time, the Superior Court of the District of Columbia—has ruled that economic losses due to governmental closure orders issued in response to the COVID-19 pandemic do not constitute “direct physical loss,” and thus, are not covered under commercial property policies. The order, issued in Rose’s 1, LLC v. Erie Insurance Exchange, follows on the heels of a ruling issued in Michigan.

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New York nursing homes and health care providers are now susceptible to lawsuits and criminal prosecutions for care provided to patients and residents that are not being treated for COVID-19.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has signed legislation revising the state’s Emergency Disaster Treatment Protection Act, which had provided legal immunity to health care and long-term care companies and professionals.

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In a decision with far-reaching implications, U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York sided with the State of New York in striking down a U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Final Rule limiting the circumstances under which employees can gain access to sick leave and emergency family leave benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read the full alert here.

Attorneys and professionals across our 22-office, 11-state domestic footprint spend each day advising clients in a variety of industries on evolving legal and regulatory matters related to the coronavirus pandemic. These attorneys—comprising our national Coronavirus Rapid Response Task Force—collaboratively advise clients on the most critical questions that face them today, from employment and labor matters to fast-evolving regulatory concerns and unanticipated liability claims and business litigation.

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Our Coronavirus Employment and Labor Rapid Response Team exists to handle all of the most pressing issues facing employers in the unprecedented business environment created by the coronavirus pandemic. Led by senior attorneys from our Employment and Labor practice, this group provides daily counsel to a diverse client community on issues including workplace safety, changes to employment policies, interpretation of new state and federal laws and guidance, labor issues, layoffs and staff reductions, the defense of employment-related claims, and strategic communications to internal and external stakeholders.

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Goldberg Segalla’s Global Insurance Services practice—home to one of the largest collection of senior insurance coverage attorneys in the nation—serves multiple leading insurers on national and regional coronavirus coverage panels. Our dedicated Coronavirus Coverage Team includes many senior coverage partners across our national footprint, allowing us to coordinate and ensure consistency in our approach to coronavirus claims, while avoiding taking any position in one claim or in one jurisdiction that could disadvantage a client in another.

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Goldberg Segalla has been on the forefront of the evolving coronavirus global health crisis, advising our clients through alerts and presentations as well as the broader legal, insurance, and business communities through publications in major outlets.

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