The NLRB has charged Apple with violating the National Labor Relations Act by maintaining and enforcing facially-neutral policies against soliciting and distributing literature in the workplace during a union organizing campaign. In this case, the General Counsel has signaled her intent to continue expansion of worker rights.
Apple was recently charged with violating the NLRA by enforcing a facially-neutral policy against solicitation and distribution in the workplace, which General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo has alleged has the effect of violating workers’ rights to solicit union membership and distribute union literature. Furthermore, the GC alleged enforcement of the policy, along with interrogation…
Continue Reading With Charge against Apple, NLRB General Counsel Seeks to Expand Scope of Protected Concerted Activity

When enacted, BIPA left many unanswered questions due to a lack of certain provisions and terms in the Act. One such question was which statute of limitations governed BIPA lawsuits.  Since BIPA contains no statute of limitations provision, the question has been left to the courts to resolve.  Similarly, BIPA does not indicate whether a violation occurs, and thus a claim accrues, every time an entity scans or transmits a person’s biometric information, or only upon the first scan or first transmission.  After much anticipation, the Illinois Supreme Court determined that the Illinois five-year “catchall” statute of limitations applies to…
Continue Reading Time Is On My Side: The Illinois Supreme Court Decides Which Statute of Limitations Governs BIPA Lawsuits and When BIPA Violations Occur

The EEOC continues to focus on the application of the federal employment laws it enforces to the use of artificial intelligence (“AI”) and other automated systems in employment decisions. Most recently, the EEOC held a public hearing on January 31st. The stated goal of the hearing was two-fold: (1) educate a broader audience about potential civil rights implications from the use of AI and automated systems; and (2) to identify the EEOC’s next steps to prevent and eliminate unlawful bias so that this technology does not become a pathway to discrimination.

The EEOC’s continues to prioritize its focus on the…
Continue Reading EEOC continues to prioritize its focus on the use of artificial intelligence in employment decisions.

In a wrongful death lawsuit alleging medical malpractice, the Illinois Appellate Court for the Fourth District reversed the trial court’s entry of summary judgment in favor of several medical defendants and ruled a telephone consultation between an emergency medicine physician and an on-call physician concerning the decedent’s medical condition created a physician-patient relationship and duty of care.

In Blagden v. McMillin et. al., 2023 IL App (4th) 220238, the decedent came to the emergency department of a hospital in central Illinois in the summer of 2017 complaining of severe pain in his neck, upper back, and swelling in his…
Continue Reading Illinois Rules Telephone Consultation Created Physician-Patient Relationship

Our Insurance Law Blog 2022 year-end review encapsulates significant jury verdicts and decisions affecting insurance cases across the nation. View the post for a non-exhaustive list of insurance cases with national and regional implications that deserve attention.

Missouri

• M.O. v. Geico Gen. Ins. Co., 2023 Mo. LEXIS 4 (Mo. banc. 2023).

A couple’s back seat dalliance became the basis of an insurance claim that attracted national attention in 2022. The plaintiff alleged that she contracted HPV after engaging in sexual activity with defendant in his vehicle, which was insured by GEICO.  After making an insurance claim, the plaintiff and…
Continue Reading Missouri, Illinois, and Kansas 2022 Notable Insurance Law Decisions

In Crum & Forster Specialty Ins. Co. v. Spike’s Pub & Grub, No. 3:21-CV-1722-NJR, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1360 (S.D. Ill. Jan. 4, 2023), the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois found that an insurance company owed no duty to defend a pub for a stabbing that took place on its premises, but denied the insurance company’s request for a declaration that it owed no duty to indemnify the pub.

In the underlying action, Devin Elliott filed a lawsuit against Spike’s Public House in the Circuit Court of St. Clair County, Illinois, alleging that Spike’s…
Continue Reading Illinois Federal Court Re-Affirms Insurance Coverage Exclusions Matter

In an opinion handed down on January 27, the Supreme Court of Kansas affirmed a previous decision of the Court of Appeals reversing a judgment against a liability insurer. The plaintiff had taken a multi-million dollar judgment against the insured, who had only minimum coverage and assigned his claim against the insurer to the plaintiff. Following a bench trial, the District Court found that the insurer had breached its duty of good faith and reasonableness in allegedly failing to settle, thus causing the excess judgment. While refusing to hold the insurer owed no duty to the insured before the plaintiff…
Continue Reading Supreme Court Sides with Liability Insurer in Baker Sterchi's Appeal of Bad Faith Verdict

In an area of law formerly left to the states, on January 5th, the Federal Trade Commission issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that seeks to implement a nationwide retroactive ban on non-compete agreements, with limited exceptions. The proposed rule would supersede state laws that are less protective of employees.

Who does the proposed FTC rule apply to?
The rule would cover non-compete clauses with any worker, paid or unpaid, including employees, independent contractors, interns, externs, volunteers, apprentices, or sole proprietors. Under the rule, “employer” is broadly defined as “any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity, including…
Continue Reading FTC Proposes Rule to Ban Non-Compete Agreements

In a DJ action filed by a commercial liability carrier, an Illinois Appellate Court held that an insurer had no duty to defend or indemnify a self-employed driver who was operating his personal vehicle during the course and scope of employment. In the underlying negligence claim, the injured plaintiff alleged personal injury and property damage when a truck driven by the owner of a construction company struck the open door of her parked car as she was getting out. The owner’s truck was purchased by him in his own name and insured through his personal auto insurance. 
The owner’s construction company was a named insured on a CGL policy that defined…
Continue Reading No Liability Coverage for Company Owner Operating Personal Vehicle in Course and Scope of Employment (Illinois Court of Appeals)

The Illinois Defense Counsel (IDC) recently published an article written by Baker Sterchi attorney Branden Brooks about his experience as a lawyer with a speech impediment. The article, “Diversity Comes in all Shapes, Sizes, and Silence” appears in the 2022 Fourth Quarter edition of the IDC Quarterly Magazine.
“I have had a speech impediment since childhood,” Brooks notes in the article, adding that “disabilities may not always be apparent at first glance or may be undetectable all together.” He added that the goal of any workplace should be to create an environment where everyone feels welcome to be…
Continue Reading IDC Publishes Diversity and Inclusion Article by Branden Brooks

The case of Mendelson v. Bankers Standard Insurance Company involved a single car accident wherein the driver, Paul Mendelson, was killed and his wife, Betty Mendelson, was injured. The Mendelsons had an insurance policy with Bankers Standard Insurance Company (“Bankers Standard”) that included both liability and underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage in the amounts of $500,000 each. However, both portions of the policy included a “household exclusion” that limited coverage in instances of bodily injury to an insured or a family member. In such cases, the policy limits for both coverages would be limited to the amount of the state-mandated minimum…
Continue Reading Appeals Court Affirms Household Exclusion to Limit UIM Claim

Our 2022 year-end review encapsulates significant jury verdicts and decisions affecting product liability cases across the nation. Below, is a non-exhaustive list of some product liability cases with national and regional implications that deserve attention.
U.S. SUPREME COURT AND OTHER COURTS
1. U.S. Supreme Court Denies 3M Co.’s Writ of Certiorari In Re Bair Hugger Surgical Blankets MDL

The Supreme Court declined to review the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision to reinstate nearly 6,000 lawsuits regarding 3M’s allegedly defective Bair Hugger surgical warming blankets. The plaintiffs in Amador v. 3M Co. brought claims against 3M Company alleging its surgical…
Continue Reading Year End Review: 2022 Product Liability Developments