Kean Miller

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The US District Court for the Western District of North Carolina recently held that even text messages are subject to the duty to preserve electronically stored information (ESI). In Shaffer v. Gaither, the plaintiff asserted claims against her former boss – a US District Attorney – for constructive dismissal based on sexual harassment and…

Multimillion dollar offshore drilling rigs and subsea drilling equipment can be rendered worthless if their most basic components, the nuts and bolts that hold them together, fail. Since 2013, investigators with the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (“BSEE”) have been investigating why bolts used in subsea oil equipment have suddenly, and without warning, failed.…

Many employers have a number of employees who were affected by the August 2016 flooding event in Louisiana.  These employers are looking for means to assist their employees in recovering from this significant disaster.  Employers have a number of options for providing disaster relief assistance to their employees.

A number of employers are simply collecting…

Chief Judge Brian Jackson issued an “Omnibus Order Suspending All Deadlines” for cases pending or to be filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana.  The Order explains that the court has been inaccessible—a key term in the Federal Rules of Civil and Appellate Procedure—since August 12, 2016 due to historic…

If you are one of the many South Louisiana residents directly affected by recent flooding but did not have flood insurance protection for your home and/or assets, be aware that the law provides some limited relief in the form of sales tax refunds.   Under Louisiana law (La. R.S. 47:315.1), residents living in an…

Property taxes in Louisiana are generally based on the status and condition of taxable property on January 1 of each tax year. For Baton Rouge and surrounding areas devastated by the recent flooding that could mean paying property taxes on homes and business property based on the condition of property before the floods.

Fortunately, Louisiana…

The recent flooding of the Baton Rouge and surrounding communities has ravaged property, devastated lives, and impacted businesses.  Much of the legal discussion surrounding the flooding in Louisiana will inevitably involve the ins and outs of flood insurance and FEMA assistance.  However, there are other legal implications of the floods that need some consideration, such…

On August 12, 2016, the Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality issued an Emergency Administrative Order to provide relief from otherwise applicable state-issued environmental permit terms and rules in order to manage the situations created by the unprecedented flooding in southern Louisiana. The Order is available here.  The Order applies to the…