If you’re an underwriter, originator, closer, attorney or other professional who specializes in HUD-insured loans, fair housing principles probably aren’t top of mind as you navigate your workday. Still, it pays to have a working knowledge of HUD’s protected classes. Dinsmore was recently involved in a 223(f) closing that provides an instructive case in point ...
On June 14, 2022, HB 140 (134th General Assembly; Amended House Bill 140), also known as the “Ballot Uniformity and Transparency Act” (the “Act”), was signed into law, providing dramatic changes to Ohio’s ballot language and election notices for property tax levies and bond issues affecting Ohio political subdivisions (Click Here for Summary) ...
As all court cases do, the Supreme Court's landmark decision in West Virginia v. EPA last month addressed a specific question: whether the Environmental Protection Agency had the statutory authority to shut down power plants and reshape significant parts of the energy sector in its effort to reduce emissions. The answer was a plain and simple no. Equally clear was the court's argument, which has implications for administrative actions well beyond this case ...
At the end of July, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a roofing contractor’s complaint against another roofing contractor for allegedly interfering with its contract with a condominium association for roof repairs relating to Hurricane Irma. The case illustrates the importance of timing and advancing work related to insurance claims and should serve as a warning to those that regularly wait on insurance payments before beginning work ...
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") recently updated its guidance in July of 2022. According to the new guidance, the COVID-19 pandemic no longer automatically meets the business necessity requirement for medical examinations i.e. COVID-19 testing. This means that employers are now required to conduct an individualized assessment to determine whether COVID testing is warranted based on "evolving pandemic circumstances ...
Ohio’s “Heartbeat” Bill became law in Ohio when the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio lifted its long pending injunction after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade ...
On July 19, 2022, the Court of Claims ordered that the current Improved Workforce Opportunity Wage Act (minimum wage) and Michigan Paid Medical Leave Act (paid leave) are void and reinstated the original ballot initiatives. However, employers do not need to overhaul their policies just yet because the ruling is stayed until February 19, 2023. Pending the outcome of appeal, these changes may not go into effect at all ...
On July 28, 2022, the Michigan Supreme Court determined that employers are prohibited from discriminating against employees based upon sexual orientation. The Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA), MCL 37.2101 et seq., prohibits employers from discriminating against employees or applicants on the basis of "religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, height, weight, or marital status." MCL 37.2202(1) ...
Dinsmore partner Kelvin Lawrence was published in Bloomberg Tax with his article "Special Commentary: State Tax Treatment of Investment Partnerships." Read an excerpt below. The Multistate Tax Commission has undertaken an ambitious project on the state taxation of partnerships. Their partnership work group consists of volunteers from numerous state revenue departments, with the able assistance of MTC Counsel Helen Hecht and Chris Barber ...
Ohio Record-Retention Rules: How can banks defend themselves after purging account records that are essential to a future lawsuit? An Ohio customer walks into her local branch and demands access to the contents of her safe deposit box. She presents a key and a one-year lease, capable of annual renewal, from 2005. But the key not only fails to open the box – it does not even fit in the lock. And when you search for records of the lease, you find nothing ...
Two more states have followed Florida’s lead in adopting laws restricting telephone solicitations. Washington State’s new law went into effect on June 9, 2022. Oklahoma’s Telephone Solicitation Act of 2022 becomes effective November 1, 2022. This means, businesses that make telephone sales calls now must navigate not only the federal statute, but various state laws, some of which are more stringent than their federal counterpart ...
Within hours of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade, Ohio’s Heartbeat Bill, originally passed in 2019, became effective when the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio, lifted its long pending injunction against the Ohio law ...
You have the right to remain silent and to an attorney, and what you say can be used against you in a court of law. From Sergeant Joe Friday on “Dragnet” to Lennie Briscoe on “Law & Order,” millions of television viewers have been Mirandized by these all-too-familiar warnings such that they have become as much a part of police work as handcuffs and a badge ...
I. Introduction Rising interest rates and a general economic downturn in 2022 has impacted the value of digital assets, including the relatively well-established likes of Bitcoin and Ether. In addition to market headwind, momentum around federal digital assets regulation is growing, culminating in the proposed “Responsible Financial Innovation Act” (the “RFIA”) ...
In a 5-4 decision, the United States Supreme Court held that states and their agencies cannot invoke sovereign immunity as a defense to claims of discrimination brought under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (“USERRA”)[1] in Torres v. Texas Department of Public Safety.[2] With this new ruling, public employers should continue to be mindful of the protections that USERRA provides active-duty and veteran employees ...
One of the most basic questions under the False Claims Act—what facts a relator must plead to state a claim—is also one of the most difficult to answer. The Supreme Court is considering multiple certiorari petitions seeking to resolve a circuit split in the application of Rule 9(b)’s heightened pleading standard to the FCA ...
On June 27, 2022, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, a case where the Court took another look at school employees’ First Amendment rights to religious expression while employed. The Court held that a school district infringed on a coach’s First Amendment rights when it disciplined him for engaging in private prayer on the field after football games. Joseph Kennedy was a football coach for the Bremerton (WA) School District ...
The Kentucky Supreme Court’s recent decision in Estate of Worrall v. J.P Morgan Bank, N.A. demonstrates the dangers to a trustee seeking a release from liability when distributing trust assets upon termination without following the statutory requirements. In Estate of Worrall, a corporate trustee sought to liquidate the trust assets of a terminating trust and conditioned the subsequent distribution of the assets on the beneficiary signing a release and indemnification agreement ...
On June 15, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States released its long-awaited decision in American Hospital Association v. Becerra in which it unanimously held that the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) overstepped its statutory authority by cutting 340B-related reimbursement to hospitals ...
On June 27, 2022, the United States Supreme Court ruled that doctors who act in subjective good faith in prescribing controlled substances to their patients cannot be convicted under the Controlled Substance Act (“CSA”). The Court’s decision will have broad implications for physicians and patients alike ...
As of June 21, 2022, importers of goods from China and other countries that contain China origin inputs of components or raw materials are subject to the enforcement provisions of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). As a result, importers should now perform significant due diligence on all tiers of the supply chain of their imports and update their compliance policies and internal controls to address the risks of forced labor in their supply chains ...
Regulation brings uniformity and security, which may feel anathema to the fundamental premise of distributed ledger technology (specifically blockchain and the nascent crypto industry blockchain technology allows) – a world that needs neither trust nor centralized authority. Nevertheless, two U.S. senators are pushing to reconcile these seemingly contrary positions and priorities ...
Dinsmore partner Michael Dailey was published in Bank Director with his article "Recent Developments to Combat Redlining." Read an excerpt below. Regulators have worked on a variety of anti-redlining proposals in recent months, including a joint initiative by the Department of Justice, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Initial reactions to the initiative expected it to focus on the redlining seen in the Trustmark Corp ...
Wednesday’s ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in Viking River is expected to chill California’s cottage industry of representative wage-and-hour cases, which have long driven huge damages against employers. The decision offers California employers a significant opportunity to require employees to pursue these types of claims individually ...
In a class action lawsuit filed Monday in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Binance.US (Binance), a major cryptocurrency exchange, has been accused of misleading investors surrounding the Terra blockchain ecosystem. This is the first major court filing in the United States relating to Terra, whose UST and LUNC tokens crashed in May, wiping out around $40 billion in investor funds ...
