Coronavirus Update 2-1-22: I just gave my kids the worst business trip souvenir ever

In the before times, when I actually traveled for business, I'd always try to come home with a souvenir for the kids. A t-shirt, a stuffed animal, something small, but at least something so they knew I was thinking about them when I was gone.

Two weeks ago, I got to travel for work again — this time to Cincinnati for the annual Ohio Craft Brewers Conference. Never fear, I did not forget to bring home a souvenir for the kids. While certainly memorable, it's one that they would certainly rather forget.

I brought them Covid-19. 😥🦠🤒

Thankfully, our Covid experience was mild and we all survived with varying degrees of minor symptoms along with five days of isolation. 

On this week's episode of The Norah and Dad Show, Norah and I talk about our experience with Omicron. We discuss how we handled having the virus, life during isolation, what we missed from the past 22 months of trying to act responsibly, and what we’re looking forward to doing now that we have our super-immunity. We also discuss the dangers of late-night milkshake deliveries and, notwithstanding, how ice cream makes everything better.

You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify (yes, we're still there, even though Joe Rogan spews dangerous garbage), Google Podcasts, the old-fashioned web browser, and wherever you get your podcasts.

Coronavirus Update 1-31-22: Employees should not be choosing between their jobs and working while ill

I return to the office today after a one-week Covid-inducted work-from-home hiatus. I'm fortunate that as a professional I have the ability and flexibility to work from home when needed. Many too many employees, however, do not have that luxury.

Consider, for example, this report from Business Insider, that 63 percent of Red Lobster employees came to work while sick with Covid-19, either because they lacked paid sick leave or because they couldn't find anyone to cover their shifts. 

WIRTW #611: the “masthead” edition

Early on in the pandemic, I rebranded and renamed the Ohio Employer Law Blog to the Coronavirus Law Blog. The change was part marketing savvy and part recognition of the reality that for the then-foreseeable future the Covid-19 pandemic would be all that mattered to employers. 

Nearly two years later? The name and masthead remain the same.

Yet, even with Omicron keeping cases at near-record numbers, hospitals still full, and Covid still claiming thousands of American lives per day, it's at least starting to feel as if we are rounding the corner into the home stretch of the pandemic.

So don't worry. I'll let you know when the pandemic is over. It'll be when I change the masthead back to this:

Here's what I read this week that I think you should be reading, too.

Coronavirus Update 1-27-22: Whole Foods 1 – Maskhole 0 😷

You have every right to believe that masks are a form of government control or a satanic tool. You're very wrong, but you are free to believe what you want to believe. 

What you aren't free to do, however, is to act on those beliefs when they run counter to the rules of the employer for which you work or the business you want to enter. 

Case in point: Manning v. Whole Foods Market Group.

Coronavirus Update 1-26-22: OSHA doesn’t need an ETS to go after your business’s Covid-safety deficiencies

With the Supreme Court effectively killing OSHA Covid-19 vax-or-test Emergency Temporary Standard, and OSHA now officially withdrawing it, employers might think that they are beyond the reach of OSHA for Covid safety-related issues. If you are one of those employers that thinks this way, you are very mistaken.

Consider Sanoh American, a Findley, Ohio, auto parts supplier. OSHA recently cited and fined it $26,527 for ignoring guidelines to limit Covid-19 exposure in its facility. While the company had social distancing and mask policies in place, it failed to follow or enforce them. As a result, 88 of the company's 270 Findley employees (nearly one-third of the local workforce) tested positive for Covid-19. Five of those positive employees were hospitalized and two unfortunately died. OSHA determined that one of those deaths was work-related.

The 2nd nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2022” is … the claim-filing clinic

Suppose you have a group of unhappy employees. They don't like their working conditions. They don't like their pay. They generally want to work somewhere else. When they give you their notice, do you:

(a) Let them walk. 
(b) Engage them to see what will entice them to say.
(c) Sue them for an injunction to stop them from leaving.

If you chose (c) you are ThedaCare, a Wisconsin healthcare system. You are also the 2nd nominee for the Worst Employer of 2022.

Coronavirus Update 1-24-22: I’m a Covid statistic

It was a calculated risk. I've been so careful for the past 22 months. We don't socialize outside of a very small bubble. We don't eat in restaurants or go to bars unless we can be outside. We've given up concerts and traveling. I wear my KN95 mask everywhere. 

But before Omicron changed the Covid-19 narrative, I decided that my firm would sponsor the Ohio Craft Brewers Conference. I also agreed to speak at the event. And we timed the launch of our brand new Craft Beer Practice Area around the conference. 

It was a safe event. Vaccines or negative tests were required of all attendees. Masks were mandatory at the event unless eating or drinking. I wore my KN95 mask everywhere. I was still nervous about spending three days out of town. But at my request, my firm had made a substantial financial investment in the event. So I packed my KN95 masks and my hand sanitizer, and off I went.

Twenty-four hours after returning home I felt my first symptoms — a scratchy throat and a mild dry cough. That's it. But having been out and about, I decided to home test. Negative.