California Corrects the Supreme Court’s Interpretation of its Law
In a highly anticipated ruling entered Monday July 17th, 2023, the Supreme Court of California (“California”) held contrary to the Supreme Court of the United States (“SCOTUS”) on a matter of state law. California’s Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA) creates new civil penalties for Labor Code violations and allows “an aggrieved employee,” acting as a proxy or agent of the state Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA), to bring a civil action against an employer “on behalf of himself or herself ( referred to as “individual claims”) and other current or former employees” ( referred to as “non
Vaccine Mandates Clarify the Public Policy Exception for Termination of At-Will Employees – Heather Smith v. BCBS of Tennessee
“Firing an at-will employee for merely writing to the Tennessee General Assembly is a bridge too far. It interferes with the employee as a citizen…The right to petition goes to a cornerstone of how employees, as citizens, can reach their government.” On April 12, 2023 the Court of Appeals of Tennessee at Knoxville heard, reversed, and remanded a case from the Chancery Court for Hamilton County regarding a retaliatory discharge claim by plaintiff, Ms. Heather Smith, after she wrote to the Tennessee General Assembly seeking protection of her perceived individual liberties and rights relating to vaccine mandates. Ms. Smith had worked for
Join our Team as an Associate
Wilson Worley is a general civil practice law firm providing litigation and non-litigation services in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia from offices in Kingsport, Tennessee. We have a broad range of skills and talents in our team, which allows us to provide excellent tailored service to our clients. We would be pleased to welcome a new attorney to join our team as an associate. The ideal candidate should be ambitious, flexible, and enthusiastic. If you have serious interest in filling this position please reach out to our office manager at 423-732-0432
Tennessee Business Relief Program
The Tennessee Business Relief Program was implemented in early June to reimburse small businesses for costs incurred as a result of the mandatory closures due to COVID-19. The program will be funded through Tennessee’s Federal Coronavirus Relief Funds and is expected to distribute around $200,000,000 in funds to over 28,000 qualifying businesses. No application is required to be eligible for the Tennessee Business Relief Program because eligibility is based on whether the business collects sales tax or pays business tax. On average, the eligible businesses have annual gross sales of $500,000 or less. Businesses are eligible for the business relief program
Force Majeure
As the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic is felt globally, many businesses are struggling to perform their contractual obligations, despite their best intention. While many businesses have been forced to suspend operations, those businesses need to consider their contractual obligations arising during this interruption of operation. Businesses need to contemplate how they will manage the impact of the crisis, what mitigations are available, and what remedies might be available. A common contractual issue that a business currently faces is suspending or terminating a contract. Many contracts include a force majeure clause. Force majeure clauses cover situations that are beyond the
Paycheck Protection Flexibility Act
On June 3, 2020, Congress passed the Paycheck Protection Flexibility Act, which marks the beginning of a second wave of Coronavirus related legislation expected to come out of Washington. The Act modifies several provisions of the Paycheck Protection Program originally implemented under the CARES Act in March. The goal of the Act is to create more flexibility within the forgiveness system in order to allow borrowers to achieve full or almost full forgiveness for their PPP loans. Most significantly, the Flexibility Act will allow businesses who have already received funds to extend the covered period from 8 weeks to 24 weeks.
Ways to Help Your Small Business During COVID-19; Application for Forgiveness of SBA Payroll Protection Program Loans
On March 27, 2020, the CARES Act became the first stimulus-relief package passed into law, which in part is able to provide $376 billion in relief for Americans and their small businesses. In addition to traditional SBA funding, the Act offers temporary programs directly related to Coronavirus relief. The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) allows small businesses to keep their employees on payroll by funding eight weeks of payroll, rent, mortgage interest, and utilities. If the business only uses the funds for these reasons, then the SBA will forgive the loan. To receive partial or even full forgiveness of the PPP Loans,
Returning to Work in Tennessee
While many workers were placed on temporary layoff from concerns related to COVID-19, Governor Bill Lee is working to restart the economy in Tennessee after social distancing measures were in effect for several weeks. During the period of the shutdown, many workers utilized Tennessee Unemployment Compensation (TUC) to receive income. Now that businesses are calling their workers back, many are refusing to return out of fears of unsafety in the workplace. The state has said that employees utilizing the TUC must be “willing and able to work” in order to receive the unemployment benefits. This means that as the state
Extension of Remote Notarization and Witnessing Through June 30, 2020
In Executive Order No. 37, Governor Bill Lee extended the temporary use of remote notarization and witnessing of documents in Tennessee through June 30, 2020. The previous order, Executive Order No. 26, was set to expire on May 17. The order allows for remote notarization and witnessing of a will, deed, and power of attorney, among other legal documents, to be done through an audio and visual communication like Zoom or Skype. This order also permits the extension of terms of any notaries public and online notaries which were set to expire between March 12, 2020 and June 15, 2020. These
Families First Coronavirus Response Act Signed Into Law, Will Go Into Effect April 1st
On March 18th, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the “Act”) was signed into law. The 110-page bill contains, in part, two additional types of employment leave aimed at allowing employees affected by the Coronavirus to take paid leave. The first are new FMLA leave entitlements, and the second is emergency paid sick leave. These additions become effective 15 days after their enactment, and apply to nearly all employers that employ fewer than 500 employees. Under the FMLA leave, as expanded by the Act, covered employers will be required to allow 12 weeks of FMLA leave to certain employees impacted by