Coronavirus Update 7-8-2020: A tale of two mask orders

Yesterday, Ohio announced that face coverings will be required at all times when out in public in seven surging counties—Butler, Franklin, Hamilton, Huron, Montgomery, Trumbull, and my county, Cuyahoga. The mandate applies as long as a county remains designated a Red Alert Level 3 Public Health Emergency county per the state's new tiered Public Health Advisory System, and requires facial coverings: 

• In any outdoor public space when a person is unable to maintain physical separation of not less than six feet from others who are not members of the person's household.
• In any indoor space open and accessible to the public, including while waiting in line to enter such indoor space.
• Inside any public transportation and any ride-share vehicle when it is not possible to maintain physical separation of not less than six feet from others who are not members of the person's household.

Ohio's mandate takes effect at 6 p.m. today.

Similarly yesterday, Cuyahoga County proposed its own rule that would also require people to wear face coverings in the same places, regardless of whether the county is designated Red Alert Level 3.

That, however, is where the similarities end.

Coronavirus Update 7-7-2020: Do you know the difference between quarantine and isolation?

During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we've heard the words "quarantine" and "isolation" used a lot. While a thesaurus might list them as synonymous, in this context they are not. 

According to the CDC, quarantine keeps someone who might have been exposed to the virus away from others and helps prevent the spread of disease that can occur before a person knows they are sick; isolation separates people who are infected with the virus from people who are not infected.

Because these terms serve different purposes during this pandemic, these also have different recommended courses of action.

Coronavirus Update 7-6-2020: Telsa fires workers for staying home after giving them permission to stay home … and after they complain about safety

"Carlos, there is no need to feel that you are going to lose your job. If at this time you do not feel comfortable returning to work, you can stay home without penalty and take the time unpaid."

That email, sent from Tesla's acting human resources director to a now terminated employee, will be central to that employee's wrongful termination lawsuit pending against the automaker.

Coronavirus Update 7-2-2020: Employee claims his remote-work request got him fired, sues

An employee suffers from high blood pressure and lives with his 81-year-old mother. He's an engineer and began working from home for his employer in mid-March when his state shut down non-essential businesses. His employer, however, remained open, and several weeks later required him to return to in-person work in the office. He refused, requesting continued work from home. The company refused that request and fired him for job abandonment. The employee sued for disability discrimination.

Coronavirus Update 7–1–2020: THIS is how you protect your employees

Mootown Creamery is an ice cream shop in my town. Consistent with Ohio's reopening rules, it requires its employees to wear masks while working. For the protection of her employees and customers, its owner also decided to require customers to wear masks while in the store.

Some, however, have been less than receptive to the mask requirement. Worse, they have taken their anger and frustration out on the store's teenage workers. 

Coronavirus Update 6–30–2020: CDC now recommends that people wear cloth face coverings in public

Your cloth face covering may protect them. Their cloth face covering may protect you.

As COVID-19 cases spike nationwide, and the CDC warns that we have "way too much virus" to control the pandemic, that same agency just released new guidance recommending that people wear cloth face coverings when in public. 

Coronavirus Update 6–29–2020: Judge hands McDonald’s a whopper of a rebuke for its COVID-19 response

A month ago I reported on a novel lawsuit filed against McDonald's Corporation in which the plaintiffs sought to have the fast-food conglomerate's alleged failure to comply with health guidance and provide PPE to its employees declared a public nuisance.

Last week, the judge granted the plaintiffs a preliminary injunction, concluding that they were likely to succeed on the merits of their claims. In so ruling, he concluded that the company fell short in its obligation to keep safe its employees and its customers.

Coronavirus Update 6–26–2020: New music Friday—Norah (en français), and a brand new Old 97’s song @suburbspod #FridayNightHootenanny

Since early May, Norah has spent her Friday nights jamming on the Rockin' the Suburbs podcast's Friday Night Hootenanny. Each Friday at 8 pm, the podcast hosts a virtual jam session via Zoom (sign up here). People can join just to listen or to share a song or two. Each week Norah's been sharing songs from the songbook she's been crafting during quarantine. Last Friday, she played her latest, a song she wrote entirely in French. (Fun facts: Norah has been taking French since kindergarten, she won the "Best Overall French Student" award at her recent middle school graduation, and I can feel her teenage face cringing as I type this.) 

The song is called, "Pas de Pluie, Pas de Fleurs" (No Rain, No Flowers). It's completely beautiful and blew me away. The Rockin' the Suburbs hosts were kind enough to share the video with me, and I'm now sharing it with you.

Coronavirus Update 6–25–2020: Are employees taking paid leave under the FFCRA? — the results

The results are in from my survey on the prevalence of employee leave under the FFCRA. Of those employers that are covered by the FFCRA:

• 86 percent have an FFCRA policy
• 59 percent train employees on the FFCRA
• 74 percent have had an employee take leave under the FFRCA

Coronavirus Update 6–24–2020: Are employees taking paid leave under the FFCRA?

According to a recent poll conducted by the National Partnership for Women & Families, less than one in five employees have either taken or plan to take paid sick or paid family leave under the FFCRA. Of the 19 percent who has actually taken, or intend to take, paid FFCRA leave:

• 9 percent say they are using new leave protections for their own illness or isolation. 
• 8 percent say they are using new leave protections due to a family member’s isolation/illness. 
• 7 percent say they are using new leave protections to care for a child due to child care or school closure. 
• 6 percent said they took leave, but not because of the new policy. 

Coronavirus Update 6–23–2020: Must you accommodate an employee with a high-risk family member?

A bit of personal news: I have requested the opportunity to work from home for the fall semester because of my daughter’s heart condition. I found out this afternoon that it was rejected because it is my child’s condition and not mine.

— Jason Helms (@helmstreet) June 17, 2020

One of the questions I have received most from clients during this pandemic comes in some variation of the following: "An employee [does not want to come into work / wants to work from home / wants a leave of absence] because s/he lives with someone who is at high risk for coronavirus complications. What do we do?"

In other words, must you accommodate an employee for the employee's close family member's disability?

Coronavirus Update 6–22–2020: Ohio ends unemployment benefits to employees who refuse to work (with some key exceptions)

The state of Ohio will begin denying unemployment benefits to employees who refuse to work because of coronavirus. 

Governor DeWine issued an Executive Order last week directing the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services to deny unemployment benefits to employees who refuse to return to work after recall to the same position held before the state's Stay at Home Order took effect.

Coronavirus Update 6–19–2020: How to communicate when an employee tests positive

Positive COVID-19 tests are sadly the reality of 2020, and likely at least part of 2021. Nationally, 2.23 million of us have tested positive for coronavirus. If your employees have been fortunate enough so far to avoid the virus, the odds are good that before this pandemic is over one or more of your employees will test positive.

Before we discuss the right way to communicate a potential workplace exposure to your employees, let's explore the wrong way, via one of my favorite punching bags, the WWE. 

Coronavirus Update 6–18–2020: Errata—employers cannot require antibody tests of employees, says EEOC

Two months ago I suggested that the EEOC would conclude that employers could require COVID-19 antibody tests as a condition of employment. Yesterday, based on updated guidance from the CDC, the EEOC said the exact opposite. Given the inherent unreliability of COVID-19 antibody tests, I'm happy to have been wrong.

Does Title VII protect employees whose spouses are pregnant?

A male Disney employee has filed suit against his former employer, claiming that Disney unlawfully discriminated against him because of his wife's pregnancy. 

According to Steven Van Soeren's complaint, Disney fired him after he took two weeks of paternity leave following the birth of his child, and after supervisors advised him during his wife's pregnancy on the wisdom of having a child. (As an aside, Van Soeren claims that his supervisors learned of the pregnancy by hacking his computer.)

Everything you need to know about Bostock v. Clayton County—the #SCOTUS LGBTQ discrimination decision—in five quotes

June is Pride Month. If you thought the month's biggest LGBTQ news was Nickelodeon tweeting that SpongeBob was part of the LGBTQ+ community, you have another thing coming. Yesterday, in Bostock v. Clayton County, the United States Supreme Court clearly, decisively, and unequivocally held:

 

An employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender violates Title VII.

The Bostock majority opinion is 33 pages long. I'll break it down for you in five key quotes.

BREAKING NEWS: U.S. Supreme Court holds that Title VII protects LGBTQ employees 🏳️‍🌈

In a landmark ruling issued this morning, the U.S. Supreme Court held that Title VII's prohibition against sex discrimination also prohibits employers from discriminating against LGBTQ employees. The 6-3 decision majority included conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch (who authored the opinion) and Chief Justice John Roberts joining the Court's four liberal justices.

I'll have my full analysis on this case tomorrow. Suffice it to say that June 15 is a historic day for civil rights.

Coronavirus Update 6–15–2020: COVID-19 is not an excuse for age discrimination

Consider these headlines:

• Older Workers Grapple With Risk of Getting Covid-19 on the Job
• Older Workers Returning to Office Fear Both Virus and Job Loss
• Age, Pregnancy Discrimination Concerns Raised Ahead of Returns to Worksites

While there's still a lot we don't know about COVID-19, one of the things we do know for sure is that is much more greatly impacts people age 65 and above. 

Coronavirus Update 6–12–2020: sanctimony (and masks) #MaskingForAFriend

Yesterday, I asked a simple question: Do you voluntarily wear a mask or other facial covering when out in public? Thank you to the hundreds upon hundreds who responded. Here are the results:

• Yes, always: 23.6%
• Yes, except when I’m socially distant from others outdoors: 48.8%
• Yes, but only when indoors: 18.6%
• No, never: 8.9%

Coronavirus Update 6–11–2020: OSHA issues guidance on cloth face coverings at work

I continue to struggle with comprehending how masks and facial coverings became one of the key coronavirus issues that's divided our nation. Click here for the latest actual science on the issue of whether masks help stop the spread of COVID-19. (TL;DR: they most certainly do.)

OSHA has now waded into the mix by issuing a list of Frequently Asked Questions on cloth face coverings.

The highlights?