HeplerBroom, LLC

HeplerBroom LLC provides comprehensive representation for its business clients, from entity selection and formation to day-to-day management and employment issues, tax planning, contract preparation, real estate matters, environmental compliance, succession planning, and representation in mergers, acquisitions, and sales.

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by Michael Murphy

As part of its published regulatory agenda, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) has proposed changes to the regulations governing Annual Emissions Reports, often called “AERs.” (That agenda is available here, beginning on page 591 of the report.)

The AERs rule requires permitted sources to report air pollution emissions data of regulated air pollutants. 35 Ill. Adm. Code 254. However, since the Illinois Pollution Control Board allowed the Emissions Reduction Market System (ERMS) program to expire,[1] IEPA is planning to propose amendments to remove reporting requirements related to the ERMS program from AERs. (Obviously…
Continue Reading Changes to Annual Emissions Reports on Published Agenda for Illinois EPA

by Julieta Kosiba

Several statutory changes affecting Illinois employers went into effect at the beginning of this year. These changes include these updates and amendments:
Illinois Equal Pay Act of 2003
As all Illinois employers should know by now, Illinois’ Equal Pay Act was amended in 2019 to prohibit employers from requesting applicants’ wage or salary histories or from otherwise requiring applicants to disclose such information. 820 ILCS 112/10(b-5). However, that prohibition does not prevent employers from giving applicants information about wages, benefits, compensation, or salary for a position. It also does not prohibit employers from discussing applicants’ compensation expectations.
Continue Reading Illinois’ 2022 Employment Law Changes

by Katelyn Hall
All employers in the State of Illinois should be aware of the updated Illinois Freedom to Work Act (“Act”) that took effect January 1, 2022. The amendments to the Act (which were made during the summer 2021 legislative session) have major consequences for employers who require employees to sign restrictive covenants. (The amendments can be read here.)
The Act’s Amendments
When the Act was originally signed into law in 2016 by former Governor Rauner, the Act prohibited employers from requiring “low-wage employees” to sign restrictive covenants. (In 2016, a “low-wage employee” was defined as any…
Continue Reading Restrictive Covenants: Illinois’ Amended Freedom to Work Act has Serious Impact on Responsibilities of Both Employers and Employees

by Colleen LaVelle
In a previous blog post, we highlighted Iowa’s novel law to end over-naming of defendants in asbestos and silica litigation. Since then, North Dakota, Tennessee, and West Virginia each enacted their own legislation aimed at curbing the number of defendants named in a given toxic tort suit. These bills share similarities, but they also differ from one another, too.
NORTH DAKOTA
On April 14, 2021, the North Dakota legislature passed House Bill 1207.[1] This Bill requires a plaintiff in an asbestos action to file a sworn affidavit signed by both the plaintiff and his or…
Continue Reading Casting A Wide Net? Legislation Passed in North Dakota, West Virginia, and Tennessee Limiting Over-Naming of Defendants in Toxic Tort Suits

by Sean S. Sheehan

It’s important that those who work with personal injury settlements stay up to date on the various requirements of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Therefore, we once again present our beginning-of-the-year summary of important updates and trends in Medicare Secondary Payer laws, processes, and procedures.
PAID Act Implemented
CMS fully implemented the PAID (Provide Accurate Information Directly) Act on December 11, 2021. (Our previous blog post describing the provisions of the PAID Act is available here.) Earlier in 2021, CMS updated the software used to access its query system. It allowed…
Continue Reading Medicare Secondary Payer News, Notes, and Trends for 2022

by Meg L. Fowler

In Babb v. Bartlett, ED 109479, 2021 WL 5894626 (Mo.App. E.D. Dec. 14, 2021), the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Eastern District of Missouri recently affirmed a trial court’s dismissal of an action for lack of personal jurisdiction.
Case Background
This case involved a commercial truck driver. The defendant, Oklahoma resident Tiffany Bartlett, was driving for Meier Environmental Services and Associates, Inc. d/b/a Mesa, Inc. (“Mesa”), a Missouri corporation. As she was driving her truck in California, she struck the vehicle of the plaintiff, Charles Babb, also an Oklahoma resident[1]. Despite the fact…
Continue Reading Missouri Court Refuses to Extend Personal Jurisdiction to Truck Driver Driving for Missouri Company

by Bradley M. Zaffiri

The Missouri Court of Appeals for the Western District recently reaffirmed that owned-vehicle exclusions in automobile liability insurance policies that provide uninsured motorist coverage are enforceable for any coverage limits above the $25,000 minimum required under Missouri’s Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law (MVFRKL). Jones v. American Family Mutual Insurance Company, S.I., 632 S.W.3d 482 (Mo. App. W.D. 2021)
Case Background
Plaintiff Courtney Jones was driving her 2014 Toyota Sequoia when another driver turned left in front of her, causing a collision that resulted in serious injuries to her neck and arm. The other driver did not…
Continue Reading Missouri Appellate Court Reaffirmed Owned-Vehicle Exclusions in Uninsured Motorist Coverage

by Tammera E. Banasek

The proper venue or forum for a Plaintiff’s suit is an ever-changing and frequently litigated dispute. The recent case in Illinois’ First District Appellate Court in Malloy v. DuPage Gynecology, 2021 Il App (1st) 19202 (September 30, 2021), provided a less than favorable result for Defendants, on both venue and forum. However, the opinion provides some insight—particularly in venues that are in close physical proximity—that more specific information needs to be provided for a court’s analysis in several of the key forum components. (As always, this begs the question for defense counsel whether a forum…
Continue Reading There’s No Place Like Home—Unless You Live Next Door: Venue and Forum in Litigation

by Kathleen S. Hamilton
The Missouri Supreme Court recently held that a plaintiff could not hold a former co-employee personally liable for a workplace injury because with one exception, co-employees are legally entitled to immunity under the 2012 amendment to Missouri Statute Section 287.120.1 of the Workers’ Compensation Act.
Case Background
Plaintiff Danny Brock worked at JMC Manufacturing, which utilizes a high-pressure laminating machine to laminate particle boards. Mark Edwards, one of plaintiff’s co-employees who was also a supervisor at JMC, was working with the plaintiff on April 30, 2013. They were using the machine to laminate particle boards when…
Continue Reading Co-Employee Immunity Under Workers’ Compensation Act in Light of New Missouri Supreme Court Opinion

by Audra Zobrist

Regardless of the type of case being tried, it is a longstanding tenet of evidence practice that hearsay statements are inadmissible at trial. The problem with admitting such evidence is that the maker cannot be cross-examined to scrutinize the accuracy, context, and other aspects of the statement. Recently, courts in California, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania, reviewing cases based on exposure to talcum powder allegedly contaminated with asbestos, have held that certain evidence presented to establish proof of contamination was inadmissible as hearsay.
Pennsylvania Court Rules Quoting Another Expert’s Report is Hearsay
In Brandt v. Bon-Ton Stores, Inc., 2020…
Continue Reading Courts Deny Evidence of Asbestos Contamination of Talcum Powder as Hearsay

by Weston T. Stoddard
On November 1, 2021, the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico denied Plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction to block an Executive Order requiring COVID-19 vaccination and dismissed the case. Rodriguez-Velez v. Pierluisi-Urrutia, No. 21-CV-1366 PAD, 2021 WL 5072017, at *1 (D.P.R. Nov. 1, 2021).  (A copy of the District Court’s opinion is available here.)
Case Background
On July 28, 2021, Puerto Rican Governor Pedro Pierluisi-Urrutia issued Executive Order 21-058, requiring public employees of the Executive Branch that work in person to be fully vaccinated by September 30, 2021. Id.
Continue Reading District Court of Puerto Rico Denies Preliminary Injunction and Dismisses Case Seeking to Halt Vaccine Mandate for Executive Branch Employees

by Julieta A. Kosiba

On November 4, 2021, in a consolidated appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld New York Department of Health’s rule requiring healthcare facilities to ensure that certain employees are vaccinated against COVID-19. We the Patriots USA, Inc. v. Hochul, Nos. 21-2179 and 21-2566, 2021 WL 5121983, *1-2 (2nd Cir. Nov. 4, 2021). (The appellate opinion can be accessed here.)

In upholding the mandate, the Second Circuit reversed the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York and affirmed the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New…
Continue Reading Second Circuit Upholds Vaccine Mandate for New York’s Healthcare Workers

by Michael P. Murphy

The Illinois Pollution Control Board issued a ruling on November 4, 2021, which, if approved by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), will become the first time-limited water quality standard (TLWQS) in Illinois. The TLWQS represents a variance from the applicable water quality standard for chloride and only applies to two watersheds in the Chicago area: the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS) and the Lower Des Plaines River (LDPR). (The Opinion and Order, which was entered on November 4, 2021, is available here.)
Summary of Ruling
The TLWQS is granted for a 15-year…
Continue Reading Illinois Pollution Control Board Adopts First Time-Limited Water Quality Standard

by Joseph H. Neill
The Missouri legislature recently passed SB 295 – the “Missouri Statutory Thresholds for Settlements Involving Minors Act” – easing requirements for finalizing settlements of personal injury and other claims involving minor children.[1] The bill (now codified as Section 436.700, RSMo) was effective August 28, 2021. With the newly enacted statute, claimants and adverse parties can expect to save a lot of time and expense on attorneys’ fees and court costs. The key point is that if certain conditions are met,[2] court approval is no longer required to settle a claim on behalf…
Continue Reading New Missouri Statute Eases Requirements for Finalizing Settlements for Minors

by Weston T. Stoddard
On October 15, 2021, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts denied plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction to prevent the enforcement of Massachusetts’ COVID-19 vaccine mandate for state employees. Mass. Corr. Officers Fed. Union v. Baker, No. 21-CV-11599 TSH, 2021 WL 4822154 at *1 (D. Mass. Oct. 15, 2021). (The district court’s opinion is available here.)
Case Background
On August 19, 2021, the Governor of Massachusetts issued an executive order requiring all executive agencies to implement a policy requiring COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of continuing employment. Id. at *2.
Continue Reading Correcting COVID: District of Massachusetts Denies Correction Officers’ and Union’s Request for Injunctive Relief against Massachusetts’ Vaccine Mandate

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington recently denied a request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction in a pending challenge to Washington’s COVD-19 vaccine mandates, Wise v. Inslee, No. 2:21-CV-0288-TOR, 2021 WL 4951571, at *7 (D. Wa. Oct. 25, 2021). (A copy of the Court’s order can be accessed here.)
Case Background
The Wise plaintiffs are challenging Governor Jay Inslee’s series of proclamations that mandate COVID-19 vaccination for educators, health care workers, and various state employees and contractors except for those who may be entitled to an accommodation under the Americans with…
Continue Reading Eastern District of Washington Finds COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates Reasonable