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Employers with 50 or more employees are often aware that they are required to provide twelve weeks of unpaid leave to eligible employees (i.e. employees that have worked the required number of hours): for the birth of a child and to care for the newborn child, because of the placement of a child with the employee for adoption or foster care; because the employee is needed to care for a family member (child, spouse, or parent) with a serious health… Read More

Commercial property insurance policies typically insure against loss of business income resulting from “Covered Causes of Loss,” and in the standard ISO-based policy those causes of loss comprise “direct physical loss,” with the term “loss” being defined in the policy as “accidental physical loss or accidental physical damage.” “Direct physical loss” is thus an essential element of an insured’s initial burden of proof in order to establish that its claim falls within the insuring agreement provided under its property insurance… Read More

An overweight citation can be extremely problematic for motor carriers in Virginia. These citations carry harsh fines and penalties and can be extremely costly for carriers. An overweight citation is issued when a carrier is operating a vehicle on Virginia highways and the vehicle’s weight exceeds the statutory weight limits. (No vehicle can travel on Virginia highways with a single axle weight in excess of 20,000 pounds, tandem axle weight in excess of 34,000 pounds, or a gross weight in… Read More

In this day and age, employers can little afford to exclude a qualified employee without good reason. While obtaining a pre-employment criminal background check may seem like an easy way to screen out problem employees, applying such a policy without looking to specifics could also screen out a qualified candidate. For example, a felony for writing a bad check 20 years ago may not justify denying an applicant employment as head custodian. Looking to the specific facts related to an… Read More

Elon Musk is known for many things. He propelled Tesla from small startup to one of the six largest companies in the world, with a market capitalization of around a trillion dollars, all within twenty years. He’s also known for his “mad scientist” ideas (like mind-control microchips), frenetic, often comical presentations , string of high-profile relationships, and general internet trollery and tomfoolery. It’s at this weird intersection of celebrity, finance, and internet meme culture that our saga begins. On November… Read More

On November 4, 2021, the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced a rule requiring employers with 100 or more employees to ensure that all of their employees are vaccinated or that unvaccinated employees test for COVID-19 on (at least) a weekly basis. The rule also requires that employers with 100 or more employees provide paid-time for employees to get vaccinated. Finally, the rule requires that covered employers require that all unvaccinated wear masks in the workplace.… Read More

No one ever thinks about the terms of their insurance policy until after there is a loss or a claim to report, and even then, few insureds pull out their policy – if they can remember where they filed it – and sit down to parse the policy’s terms to determine whether the loss or the claim is actually covered. Fewer still bother to check the numerous conditions provided in the policy to make a bullet-list of duties the insured… Read More

When an employee is injured on the job due to the negligence of a non-employer third-party, the employee has two claims: one against the employer based in workers’ compensation, the other as a personal injury claim against the third-party. While they may have two claims, they are allowed only one recovery for their lost wages, medical bills, and other expenses. Noblin v. Randolph Corp., 180 Va. 345, 358-59 (1942). Thus, when an employer pays an employee’s medical bills and lost… Read More