COLORADO APPROVES CIVIL UNIONS

Colorado has joined 8 other states that have civil union laws or similar arrangements.  Additionally, 9 states and the District of Columbia allow same-sex marriage.

MONTANA SUPREME COURT RULES OBESITY CAN BE AN IMPAIRMENT

The Supreme Court of Montana has concluded that obesity that is not the symptom of a physiological condition can be a “physical or mental impairment”.  The court relied on the EEOC Compliance Manual in coming to this conclusion.

CONNECTICUT SUPREME COURT LIMITS SCOPE OF CONNECTICUTS’S FMLA

In a victory for multi-state employers, the Connecticut Supreme Court has ruled that state’s Family and Medical Leave Act (CTFMLA) only applies to employers that have at least 75 employees in Connecticut.  The CTFMLA requires employers to provide up to 16 weeks of leave during a 24-month period.

6TH CIRCUIT RULES RICO CAN APPLY TO WORKERS’ COMPENSATION CLAIMS

The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has ruled that state workers’ compensation exclusive remedy provisions do not preempt federal law and is allowing a claim to proceed, using the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”). The plaintiffs argued that their workers’ compensation cases were denied unfairly, claiming the doctor who did the examinations was biased in favor of the third party administrator (Crawford).

CHANGES TO STATUTORY DISABILITY PLANS IN CALIFORNIA & NEW JERSEY

Effective January 1, 2012, there will be a number of changes to the statutory disability plans in California and New Jersey.

In California, the maximum weekly benefit amount for State Disability Insurance (SDI) and Paid Family Leave (PFL) will increase from $987 to $1,011.

VAGUE NEW TEXAS PRIVACY LAW GOES INTO EFFECT

A broad privacy law with many uncertain aspects has now gone into effect in Texas.  The law imposes substantial new requirements on any entity that handles health information.  The way the law is written, it is extraterritorial in nature and purports to apply to every part of an entity doing business in Texas.