On May 21, 2024, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking indicating that the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) intends to transfer marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the...more
Most employers operating in Illinois are (or should be) aware of Illinois' stringent Biometric Information Protection Act (BIPA). As we have written about previously, BIPA’s requirements are exacting, and BIPA plaintiffs do...more
One of the more significant Illinois legal developments in the past month were two Illinois Supreme Court orders interpreting the state’s onerous Biometric Information Protection Act (BIPA). We recently examined how these...more
In just the last two weeks, the Illinois Supreme Court dealt two significant blows would be defendants (i.e., employers and consumer-facing companies) under Illinois’ exacting Biometric Information Protection Act (BIPA). The...more
Businesses and organizations operating in Illinois – including any business with an online presence accessible to residents of Illinois – should remain vigilant of the ever-changing set of pitfalls stemming from the Illinois...more
Following a burgeoning trend across the country, Chicago amended its sexual harassment ordinance with some significant changes on April 27, 2022, and employers should take note. Along with a new and expanded definition of...more
Well into the third year of the global pandemic, with record inflation and the uncertain outcomes of geopolitical issues roiling global markets, the cannabis industry has nevertheless continued upon a similar path as recent...more
6/7/2022
/ Bankruptcy Court ,
Biden Administration ,
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Cannabis Products ,
DEA ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Infrastructure ,
Insolvency ,
NDAA ,
Patents ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
State Labor Laws ,
Sustainability ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO ,
Veterans Administration
For years, most employers and employees alike assumed a clean drug test was a pre-requisite for getting hired. These pre-employment drug testing panels included a list of illegal drugs, and almost always included...more
2/15/2022
/ Cannabis Products ,
Drug Testing ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Pre-Employment Health Screenings ,
State and Local Government
After a relatively quiet 2020 from an employment legislation perspective, the Illinois Assembly has been busy crafting new laws in 2021. We recently reported on new legislation related to restrictive covenants, but the...more
We have issued several recent alerts regarding potential new Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) COVID-19 standards, particularly in light of the new Biden administration. Indeed, within the first 48 hours of...more
2/9/2021
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Executive Orders ,
New Guidance ,
OSHA ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Social Distancing ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
While the landscape is far from settled, there is increasing evidence that the plaintiffs’ bar is gearing up for a wave of employment lawsuits stemming from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. These lawsuits typically allege an...more
On April 1, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) released a temporary rule (“the Rule”), at 29 C.F.R. § 826, regarding administration of the paid leave provisions in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“the...more
Employers are undoubtedly aware of the ever-changing landscape of marijuana laws across the country. Complicating matters for larger employers is that these evolving statutes are creatures of state law with little uniformity...more
2/11/2020
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Drug Testing ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Recreational Use ,
Workplace Safety ,
Zero Tolerance Policies
The trend of states legalizing both medical and recreational marijuana use continues to gain momentum. Unfortunately for employers, this also means having to wade through an ever-growing patchwork of marijuana laws across the...more
On January 25, 2019, the Illinois Supreme Court handed down a key ruling that will make it significantly easier for consumers and workers to sue and recover damages for mere non-compliance with the requirements of the state’s...more
The evolving legalization of marijuana for both medical and recreational uses continues to cause workplace issues for employers. Nine states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational marijuana, and 32 states...more
5/30/2018
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
State and Local Government ,
Zero Tolerance Policies
We are now almost a year into the Trump presidency, but we are still grappling with how the administration will address many issues throughout the country. To a certain extent we can never be sure of a clear path, as...more
President Trump’s reputation as a no-holds-barred businessman was one of the pillars of his campaign. Six months into office, Trump’s administration is showing its pro-business (or pro-employer) tendencies through recent...more
President Trump is not wasting any time acting on several of his campaign promises. Whether or not the administration’s actions align with those campaign promises, however, is yet to be seen....more
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has done it again.
Over the last few years, the NLRB has provided no shortage of topics for us to discuss, because it has made no secret of its aggressive agenda to expand...more
At the risk of sounding crass and overgeneralizing, social establishments – particularly those catering to the non-married crowd – like having more women at their establishments, and so they offer free items to women on the...more