Coronavirus Update 8–3–2021: What the CDC’s new mask guidance actually says and means

Since there was so much confusion that resulted from the last time the CDC updated its mask guidance for the fully vaccinated, I thought it best to take a look at its most recent pronouncement, explain exactly what it means, and detail whom the CDC recommends should now be masking up indoors.

According to the CDC, the fully vaccinated should wear a mask in public indoor settings in areas of substantial or high transmission, meaning 50 or more cases per 100,000 people. For the unvaccinated, the guidance remains as it always has been—mask up indoors and in most cases outdoors.

What is an "area of substantial or high transmission? As of today, any county colored orange or red on this map. 

Nearly 80 percent of all counties in the United States meet this definition.

Coronavirus Update 8–2–2021: Employers, now is the time to mandate Covid vaccines

As short as a few weeks ago, I'd have told you that the choice to get vaccinated is a personal one, and that employers that mandated the Covid vaccine for their employees were over-stepping into their employees' medical privacy.

That was before last week's news that the Delta variant has taken hold and taken off. As we now know that Delta is more transmissible than the chickenpox or the common flu, impacting younger people, and likely more dangerous than prior variants, our country is in a dark place with this virus, and it's rapidly getting darker.

Coronavirus Update 7–23–2021: We talkin’ bout masks! We ain’t talkin’ bout the vaccine, we talkin’ bout masks.

I'm not proud of this but i just made a scene in public for the first time in my life… I walked into a Starbucks and they asked me to put a mask on! I yelled this is ridiculous, so I turned around and walked out. I know what you're thinking… My first mistake was walking into a Starbucks:)

– Actor Kevin Sorbo, on LinkedIn, 7/20/21

I came across the post written by the former Hercules actor a couple of nights ago while perusing my LinkedIn feed. Three things came to mind.

Coronavirus Update 7–22–2021: How the ADA and FMLA apply to Covid long haulers

The risks associated with Covid-19 aren't limited to the 625,000 Americans this virus has killed or the 2.3 million hospitalizations. One of the greatest risks comes from the fact that nearly one-third of Covid-19 patients will develop long-haul symptoms that long outlast the actual infection, and further that nearly one-third of all Covid long haulers had asymptomatic Covid cases. These long-haul symptoms can include fatigue, respiratory problems, "brain fog," body aches and muscle pain, abdominal issues, and loss of smell and taste. They can be quite debilitating and last for months or longer.

If you have an employee experiencing one or more of these long-haul symptoms, what are your legal obligations to that employee under ADA and FMLA?

Coronavirus Update 7–21–2021: Employers, now is the time to ready your back-to-school plans

Children nationwide are getting ready to go back to the school for the 2021 – 22 school year, the third school year students and their parents will be living and dealing with, Covid-19.

Here's what we know about what this school year will look like.

When protected concerted activity isn’t protected

Netflix has fired three marketing executives for criticizing their co-workers over Slack. According to The Hollywood Reporter, "the executives in question thought the messages were private. An insider says an employee stumbled across several months’ worth of these messages and reported it."

An adverse jury verdict is just a number on a piece of paper

Late last week, a federal jury tagged Walmart with a verdict totaling more than $125 million in a disability discrimination lawsuit the EEOC brought on behalf of an employee with Down syndrome.

The facts were not great for Walmart.