In a much-anticipated decision, the Colorado Supreme Court issued a ruling on Monday upholding an employer’s decision to discharge an employee for his off-duty medical marijuana use.
In Coats v. Dish Network, LLC, a quadriplegic employee filed a wrongful termination suit against his former employer, claiming Dish Network violated Colorado’s “lawful activities statute” by
On June 9, 2015, the OIG issued a new Fraud Alert, cautioning physicians who enter into compensation arrangements such as medical directorships to ensure that the arrangements reflect fair market value for bona fide services that the physicians actually provide. The OIG reiterated that a compensation arrangement could violate the Anti-kickback Statute if even one
The EPA has proposed pretreatment standards for the Oil and Gas Extraction Category (40 CFR Part 435). The regulations would address discharges of wastewater pollutants from onshore Unconventional Oil and Gas (UOG) extraction facilities to Publicly-Owned Treatment Works (POTWs). The EPA contends that “the proposed rule would better protect public health, the environment, and the
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) published a Request for Information (“RFI”) on December 9, 2013 concerning possible changes to the Process Safety Management (“PSM”) program codified at 29 C.F.R. 1910.119. See 78 Fed. Reg. 73756 (Dec. 9, 2013 ). Likewise, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) published an RFI on July 31, 2014 relating
In 1953, Congress passed the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (“OCSLA”), 43 U.S.C. 1333, et seq. to provide a set of “comprehensive choice-of-law rules and federal regulation to a wide range of activity occurring beyond the territorial waters of the states on the outer continental shelf of the United States.” Important in OCS personal
An offshore helicopter crash resulted in four lawsuits filed in the Eastern District of Louisiana that were eventually consolidated for all purposes. Three of the four plaintiffs properly asserted that their cases fell under admiralty jurisdiction and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(h). FRCP 9 governs the pleading of special matters, and subsection (h) addresses
In Alfred v. Anadarko Petroleum Corporation et al., No. 13-211, 2014 WL 6633105 (M.D. La. November 21, 2014), newly-minted Judge John W. DeGravelles re-affirmed the spirit of Romero v. Mobil Exploration, 939 F.2d 307, 311 (5th Cir. 1991), holding that the reinvented SEMS II rules (Safety and Environmental Management Systems) found in the
During the 2014 Legislative session, the Louisiana Legislature enacted the Louisiana Telehealth Access Act (the “Act”), La. R.S. 40:1300.401 et seq. In the Act, the Louisiana Legislature declared telehealth to be “extremely valuable” because it enhances access to care, promotes cost-effective delivery of care, and could improve health outcomes.[1] The Act, which became effective
On February 25, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States issued an opinion against the North Carolina Board of Dental Examiners (the “NC Board”) finding that the NC Board had violated federal antitrust law by issuing cease and desist letters to non-dental licensed persons who performed teeth whitening services. The case involved an administrative
Spoliation of evidence is the evidentiary doctrine that refers to destruction or significant alteration of evidence, or the failure to preserve evidence, for another’s use as evidence in pending or future litigation. While there can be a statutory duty, a contract, a special relationship between the parties, or an affirmative agreement or undertaking to preserve