The sixty-five percent (65%) COBRA premium subsidy provided for in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) will come to an end on November 30, 2009 for some qualified beneficiaries. 

Continue Reading LAW ALERT: The COBRA Subsidy Will End November 30, 2009 For Some Beneficiaries

The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) takes effect November 21, 2009. Among other things, GINA requires that employers post a notice informing employees that the employer does not discriminate on the basis of genetic information.

Continue Reading Is Your Company Ready for the November 21, 2009 Deadline under GINA?

The FTC issued a news release on October 30, 2009 advising that at the request of Members of Congress, the Federal Trade Commission is delaying enforcement of the “Red Flags” Rule until June 1, 2010, for financial institutions and creditors subject to enforcement by the FTC.

The Rule was promulgated under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, in which Congress directed the Commission and other agencies to develop regulations requiring “creditors” and “financial institutions” to address the risk of identity theft. The resulting Red Flags Rule requires all such entities that have “covered accounts” to develop and implement written identity theft prevention programs to help identify, detect, and respond to patterns, practices, or specific activities – known as “red flags” – that could indicate identity theft.

A copy of the news release is available at http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/redflags.shtm

On October 28, 2009, President Obama signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 (H.R. 2647). The new law is expansive with over 500 pages of text. Section 565 of the Act makes significant changes to the military leave entitlements under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) which went into effect earlier this year. Below is a summary of some of the changes made:

Continue Reading LAW ALERT: The “2010 National Defense Authorization Act” Expands FMLA Military Leave Entitlements

In LVRC Holdings, LLC v. Brekka, et. al. (9/15/09), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the trial court’s summary judgment for defendants finding that defendant, Brekka, was “authorized” to use LVRC’s computers while he was employed, and that he did not access the computers “without authorization” under the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) when he emailed documents to himself and his wife prior to leaving LVRC.

Continue Reading LAW ALERT: Employee Didn’t Improperly Access Employer’s Computer Ninth Circuit Rules on What Is and What Is Not “Authorization” under the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act