What We Think

Jon Vegosen has been named the recipient of a 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award by Vistage, the world’s largest CEO coaching and peer advisory organization for small and midsize businesses.

The COVID-19 pandemic has ravaged the United States since the beginning of 2020, and it does not seem to be going away anytime soon. As such, mandatory COVID-19 testing in workplaces has continued to evolve.

Arbitration provisions are ubiquitous in modern contracts. Before Congress enacted the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”), federal courts often refused to enforce arbitration provisions and favored resolving disputes in court.

The City of Chicago has amended the Chicago Human Rights Ordinance (the “Ordinance”) to create additional protections against sexual harassment and new compliance requirements for Chicago employers. As these amendments take effect July 1, 2022, covered employers would be wise to comply sooner rather than later.

In a win for internet jokers, the First Amendment trumped the National Labor Relations Board after a federal appellate court held that the Board “misconstrued a facetious remark as a true threat”. 

Since the beginning of 2021, people on trains, buses and planes, and in railway stations, bus depots and airports, have been required, by federal law, to wear masks.  That changed on April 18, 2022 when a Florida federal judge struck down the Centers for Disease Control (“CDC”) rule requiring such masks. 

Football fans everywhere rejoiced after legendary NFL quarterback Tom Brady announced that he would be coming out of retirement last month.  Well, almost everywhere.  One fan purchased Brady’s last touchdown football at auction for $518,628.00 just one day before Brady made his surprise announcement that he would be returning to the game. 

Businesses these days often find themselves targeted – sometimes unfairly – by negative online reviews. Sometimes, the authors are not actual dissatisfied customers but rather, for example, competitors or other individuals with a grudge unrelated to the quality of the company’s goods or services.

UPDATED 3/4/2022: On March 3, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Ending the Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021, which we previously wrote about below. The Act is effective immediately. Employers should consider consulting with counsel to review any arbitration agreements or class action waivers for compliance with the Act.

On February 10, 2022, the United States Congress passed the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 (the “Act”). This bipartisan Act is a significant workplace reform bill that was originally introduced several years ago during the #MeToo movement.

We wish our clients and friends a healthy, happy, and prosperous 2022. Our January Legal Update highlights new laws and amendments that may be of interest to Illinois businesses and individuals. We encourage all those potentially affected by these developments to consult with counsel to ensure that they are in compliance with, or consider taking advantage of, these new laws.