JD Supra Morning Brief: Online Gambling, Employee Firearms, HIPAA Breaches, Pledge of Allegiance

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Want to gamble online? Plan a trip to Jersey… (Ifrah Law)  

Employees who want “pack heat” on their commute could soon be doing it in more states (Bradley Arant Boult Cummings) 

Is crowdfunding legal now? (Looper Reed) 

Time to come clean: HIPAA covered entities have just three more days to report small breaches of protected health information that occurred during 2012 (Davis Wright Tremaine) 

Working from home is rarely a “reasonable accommodation” under the ADA (Marissa Mayer probably knew this last week) (Morrison & Foerster) 

What to expect from the “Lean Mean Civil Rights Machine” over the next three years (Ogletree Deakins) 

$1.7 million profit on a $90,000 purchase of Heinz call options one day before the company is sold to Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital? Now why would the SEC and the FBI be interested in that? (Orrick) 

Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink… But Florida developers are finding alternatives (Bilzin Sumberg) 

Colorado students turn tradition and freedom of speech into controversy by delivering the Pledge of Allegiance in Arabic (Cullen & Dykman) 

No dice, ICE: Department of Justice says Immigration and Customs Enforcement can’t force employers to admit liability for I-9 violations after a settlement has been negotiated (Foley & Lardner) 

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JD Supra Morning Brief: Lance Armstrong, Kim Dotcom, Debt Buyers, Musical Chairs

Mondays are rough all around. Let the JD Supra Morning Brief smooth off the edges: 

Should the feds impose greater transparency on corporate political spending? This Columbia Law professor thinks so (Bloomberg Law) 

FCPA compliance practitioners can learn a lot from Lance Armstrong… (Thomas Fox) 

Does the Communications Decency Act provide immunity to website operators for defamatory statements that they actively encouraged? (Holland & Knight) 

Wondering how to spend your management training dollars? The EEOC can tell you (Littler) 

Kim Dotcom’s new “sharing” website Mega? It’s already received a host of copyright infringement warnings… (Baldwins) 

The Federal Trade Commission has issued a “first-of-its-kind” study of debt buyers (Ballard Spahr) 

A public market for private company shares? Yep. And it’s growing (Cohen & Gresser) 

Can’t keep up with the musical chairs game in President Obama’s cabinet? This will help (King & Spalding) 

Thinking of putting full-time employees on part-time schedules to avoid health care costs next year? (Akerman Senterfitt) 

New rules for foreign banks operating in the United States (Dechert) 

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@JDSupraBuzz

JD Supra Morning Brief: First-to-File, Data Security, Disabled Students, Patent Trolls, Dodd-Frank Progress

What’s more powerful than a locomotive, faster than a speeding bullet, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound? Why, the JD Supra Morning Brief, of course:

Would you hire a lawyer who didn’t finish law school? If this proposal is accepted, you might have that option in New York (Bloomberg Law) 

No organization – not even the US government – is immune from data security breaches (Ifrah Law) 

School sports must be open to students with disabilities, says the Department of Education (Cullen & Dykman) 

Want to avoid disappointment at the “first-to-file” patent office? Get to work now… (Corporate Law Report) 

Qualified Small Business Stock is still a smart buy (for another year, at least) (Orrick) 

Yipee! The Dodd-Frank rulemaking process is nearly 50% complete (Leonard, Street and Deinard) 

Don’t smoke ‘em if you got ‘em – not if you work in Texas, anyway… (Looper Reed) 

Online retailer: 1, patent troll: 0 (BakerHostetler) 

Signing a software license? Make sure you’re not agreeing to a “most unfavorable customer” clause… (Pillsbury) 

What can employers learn from the EEOC enforcement statistics on FLSA breastmilk-break requirements? Plenty (Fisher & Phillips) 

Investment advisers: here’s your guide to important dates and reminders… (Foley Hoag) 

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JD Supra Weekend Reader: Unpaid Internships, Stealing Secrets, EEOC Priorities, The Batmobile

“Everybody’s working for the weekend…” Is it possible that Loverboy knew more than 30 years ago we’d be putting out the JD Supra Weekend Reader? We like to think so…

The Corp Law Report - it even has a section we like to refer to as “speed dating for executives…” Really. (JD Supra Contributors)  

This update from the archive has been very popular on the site as of late. That doesn’t mean you can ask your intern to print out and read it to you… (Dinsmore & Shohl) 

Don’t want your employees to get away with stealing trade secrets? Have a data-use policy… (Cohen & Gresser LLP) 

Dot .oops? ICANN faces multiple antitrust and IP lawsuits just as the regulator plans to roll out new generic Top Level Domains… (Loeb & Loeb LLP) 

Reading the employment law tea leaves is risky business – but that doesn’t stop Dan Schwartz (Pullman & Comley) 

What do workplace discrimination, immigrant and migrant worker issues, emerging areas of law (like ADA, pregnancy accommodations, and LGBT discrimination), compensation, and harassment have in common? They’re all EEOC priority enforcement areas (Chai Feldman) 

“Pollutant” is a statutorily defined term that does not include stormwater. So butt out, EPA (JD Supra Contributors) 

It’s everything you need to know about the commercial risks and rewards of social media: a 134-page legal guide for global businesses (Reed Smith) 

Holy copyright law, Batman – they’re fighting over your Batmobile (Winthrop & Weinstine) 

The US government may be resurrecting the use of the “Park Doctrine” to prosecute violations of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act (Duane Morris) 

A debt collection law firm will pay $30,000 to settle DOJ charges it violated the American Disabilities Act by refusing to make accommodations for two deaf individuals (Ballard Spahr) 

Survey says: mobile apps often collect and share children’s private information without adequate disclosures (just ask the FTC) (Pepper Hamilton) 

Corporate execs: if you’re not losing sleep over data privacy and security, well, you probably should be… (Michael Volkov) 

Dear Health Care Provider: follow these five steps for managing the use of mobile devices by employees. Signed: your patients’ protected health information (Proskauer) 

FTC ends antitrust investigation of Google with a “slap on the wrist” (Skadden Arps) 

The US Small Business Administration amended regulations governing eligibility for the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Programs (Mintz Levin) 

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Enjoy your weekend! 

@JDSupraBuzz

JD Supra Morning Brief: EEOC Strategic Plan, Social Media Risks & Rewards, Copyrighting the Batmobile, Brent Musburger

Another day, another JD Supra Morning Brief. Honestly, does it get any better than this? 

You’ve heard it before, but that doesn’t make it any less true: for companies facing white collar crime prosecution, the best defense is a good offense (Levick) 

What do workplace discrimination, immigrant and migrant worker issues, emerging areas of law (like ADA, pregnancy accommodations, and LGBT discrimination), compensation, and harassment have in common? They’re all EEOC priority enforcement areas (Chai Feldman) 

“Pollutant” is a statutorily defined term that does not include stormwater. So butt out, EPA (Holland & Knight) (Foley Hoag) 

It’s everything you need to know about the commercial risks and rewards of social media: a 134-page legal guide for global businesses (Reed Smith) 

The Chinese Food and Drug Administration plans to overhaul the country’s drug registration rules (Ropes & Gray) 

Holy copyright law, Batman – they’re fighting over your Batmobile (Winthrop & Weinstine) 

The FCC’s new telemarketing rules are scheduled to go into effect later this year (Morrison & Foerster) 

If 2012 was the year of Hurricane Sandy, 2013 is likely to be the year of Hurricane Sandy-related litigation (Zelle Hofmann) 

Can work-related stress earn you an FMLA leave of absence? Let’s go to Brent in the booth for the answer… (Franczek Radelet) 

Will European regulators be less forgiving than the FTC of allegations of Google’s search algorithm bias favored Google properties? (Howard Ullman) 

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@jdsuprabuzz

JD Supra Morning Brief: New Year’s Eve Weddings, Discrimination at Dillard’s, Compounding Pharmacies, Protected Facebook Posts

Have you made your 2013 resolutions? Ours at JD Supra: keep producing the Morning Brief. Enjoy:

Regulators are using the FCPA to enforce laws that haven’t been passed by Congress, says the FCPA Profession (Levick) 

New year, new state labor laws. Yes, it’s the full list (Littler) 

What’s the future of class arbitration? Rocky, if it will be anything like its past (Leonard, Street and Deinard) 

Will Dillard’s wind up the holiday shopping season in the red after a $2 million discrimination settlement? (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) (Bernstein Shur) (Miller & Martin) (XpertHR)

The FDA recently met with state boards of pharmacy to discuss the regulation of compounding pharmacies (Duane Morris) 

Our next stop on the New York City tour – the state Attorney General’s office… (BakerHostetler) 

Planning a New Year’s Eve wedding? To save on taxes, right? (Davis Brown) 

Federal contractors that violate wage-hour laws could get burned by the Davis-Bacon act (Foley & Lardner) 

Health and Human Services recently introduced a website to help promote mobile security in the healthcare industry (Davis Wright Tremaine) 

Same story, different face(book): NLRB rules that employees’ Facebook posts are protected concerted activity (Mintz Levin) 

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JD Supra Morning Brief: Laundering Drug Money, Reducing Child Labor, Revising the Tax Code, Jumpstarting the Farm Bill

Looking for that perfect gift? How about a subscription to the JD Supra Morning Brief:

Senator Charles Grassley thinks that HSBC deserves more than a civil fine that is a “spit in the ocean” compared to what the bank made off of the illegal transactions (Bloomberg Law) 

A must for every multinational’s HR workbench: the Department of Labor toolkit for reducing child labor and forced labor (Fisher & Phillips) 

The EEOC’s strategic enforcement plan has been approved (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) 

Congress appears to be committed to overhauling the Internal Revenue Code, or as we like to call it, IRS Form 3.8 billion (words) (Morvillo Abramowitz) 

A $1.3 million verdict against Lucasfilm was overturned because the judge in the case didn’t get the jury instructions right (Orrick) 

The farm bill is stalled in the lame duck congress. Will Fiscal Cliff negotiations put it back on track? (Varnum) 

US-listed companies with operations in China are facing a cliff of their own this year (Pillsbury) 

Hey Squidward, guess what? The mobile game SpongeBob Diner Dash is accused of collecting personal information about children in violation of federal law (Mintz Levin) 

The University of Toledo lawfully terminated the interim Associate Vice President for Human Resources after she wrote an op-ed column arguing that homosexuals choose to be gay (FordHarrison) 

Did James Cameron rip off Bats and Butterflies when he wrote and directed Avatar? Not in this world (Downs Rachlin Martin) 

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Change Is in the Air: FCPA and Employment Law

What does the SEC / DOJ Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practice Act have in common with current issues in labor and employment law? Change – and Bob Dylan:

The FCPA Guidance: Bob Dylan, Change and Political Reality (Michael Volkov):

“The FCPA Guidance is here and I will write a few postings on the subject.  Initially, it is important to look at the political landscape.  President Obama’s re-election communicated an important message to lawmakers and corporate leaders about public expectations… 

In the end, the next four years (and perhaps beyond) will reflect the voter’s will for ‘change,’ for corporate accountability, for fairness and for ethical conduct.  Business has a new ‘reality’ to accept.  The sooner the business community embraces this reality, the easier the global marketplace. Who would have ever thought that the cycles of American history would bring us to this point – fifty years after Bob Dylan wrote The Times They Are a Changin’ – change is upon us once again.” Read more»

The Times They Are a-Changin’: What Employers Need to Know Now About Legislative Developments, NLRB Activities and the EEOC’s Current Focus (Lane Powell PC):

“Prompted by many inquiries from employers about recent significant developments in workplace laws, Lane Powell provides the following overview on the Marriage Equality Act and the recreational marijuana initiative passed by Washington voters, NLRB activities relating to social media policies, investigations and at-will disclaimers, and EEOC guidance on workplace treatment of domestic violence victims.” Read more»

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For additional commentary and analysis on the FCPA resource guide, see: What Stands Out In the SEC & DOJ’s New Guide to FCPA Compliance? 

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Did somebody say Dylan?

JD Supra Morning Brief: An Al Qaeda Plea? Tax Breaks for Solyndra Owners? Lap Dancing Not Art?

Happy Halloween! No tricks from us, just your first treat of the day - the JD Supra Morning Brief: 

Alleged al Qaeda member Abu Hamza’s lawyer says his client is interested in discussing a plea deal (Bloomberg Law) 

Solyndra’s shareholders allowed to keep valuable tax breaks even after selling the company’s assets and exiting the failed business (Skadden Arps) 

Mark your calendars: the CFPB begins examining debt collectors on January 2, 2013 (Ballard Spahr) 

Exotic dancing not an art form? Did nobody even bother to ask Toulouse-Lautrec? (Lawyers.com) 

Know what to do if the government threatens to take your property via eminent domain? Read this and you will (Greenberg Glusker) 

Ah, what a tangled (World Wide) Web AdWords weaves… (Miller Canfield) 

If your co-worker wants to tag along to your job site so he can “shoot his new shotgun,” it might be best to say no (Jodi Ginsburg) 

Fighting over a will can turn siblings into enemies and inheritances into attorneys’ fees (Jaburg Wilk) 

Insurers that ignore the impact of climate change do so at their own peril (McCarter & English) 

The EEOC has issued guidance to help  employers avoid discriminating against victims of domestic violence (Davis Brown) (Mintz Levin) 

Just a few short weeks until the California Air Resources Board kicks off its first “Cap and Trade” carbon credit auction (Snell & Wilmer) 

The good news? Michigan libraries won’t have to invest in expensive metal detectors. The bad? They won’t be allowed to ban firearms even if they wanted to (Warner Norcross & Judd) 

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National Security, Human Rights, Mahatma Gandhi, Religious Discrimination? It’s Gotta Be…

… Monday’s JD Supra Buzz. For your reading pleasure, here’s what we learned in law today:

Vladimir Lenin? Mahatma Gandhi? Henri Matisse? Howard Cosell? Yep, they were all lawyers… (Bloomberg Law) 

Think the President overacted when he forced Ralls Corporation to get out of an Oregon windfarm project? Read this (McCarter & English) 

Lawmakers continue to push for legislation that will require corporations to conduct (and publish the results of) human rights due diligence (Foley Hoag) 

The FTC is crowdsourcing a computer program that will filter out illegal computerized robocalls (Ifrah Law) 

But if the fabric is camouflaged, how can you tell if it’s been copied? (Winthrop & Weinstine) 

Pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers are struggling to figure out just how to let the sun shine in (Morrison & Foerster) 

Social media in the workplace isn’t all bad. Especially when the networks are private (XpertHR) 

The EEOC is targeting religious and national origin discrimination against Arab and Muslim employees (Poyner Spruill) 

The FDA has launched a criminal investigation of the pharmacy at the center of the ongoing meningitis outbreak (Mintz Levin) 

The #1 reason general counsel fire law firms? Pricing [VIDEO] (Bloomberg Law) 

New York retail businesses may be required to install permanent sidewalk ramps to comply with the ADA (Bryan Cave) 

Reform Chapter 11 bankruptcy laws? Nah, let’s throw them out and start over (Bernstein Shur) 

New FCC rules will require schools across the country to upgrade their two-way radios (Franczek Radelet) 

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