Client Alerts

Exactly one week after his surprise announcement before a group of steel and aluminum industry executives to impose tariffs on “all” steel and aluminum imports in the interest of national security, President Trump followed up on March 8, 2018, with formal Proclamations to implement his decision.  The Proclamations order modification of the Harmonized Tax Schedule to implement an additional ad valorem duty of 25% on imported steel articles, and 10% on aluminum articles,  “with respect to goods entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption” effective March 23, 2018. 

On March 7th, in a highly anticipated opinion, the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that discrimination on the basis of transgender status and gender transitioning violates Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended (Title VII). The court overturned a lower court decision that had found a narrow “religious freedom” exception allowing termination of a transgender employee. EEOC v. R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes, No. 16-2424, 2018 WL 1177669 (6th Cir. March 7, 2018).

After that photo company sent a demand letter for $5,000, you agreed to never again grab images off of Google.  Instead, you turned to Twitter or YouTube or Facebook and grabbed the embed code and put it on your website.  What could go wrong, after all, they make the embedding code so easy to access… 

Despite the fact that copyright law finds its origins in the U.S. Constitution, it is far from an established doctrine.  Never has this been more obvious than when Tom Brady, Twitter and Breitbart News collided in a case that will likely change the way companies across the country address linking social media in websites.

Last week, the Federal Circuit affirmed a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office determination that patent claims are invalid despite its earlier decision upholding the validity of the same claims. Knowles Electronics LLC v. Cirrus Logic, Inc., No. 2016-2010 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 1, 2018).

President Trump announced on March 1 his plan to levy tariffs of 25% and 10% respectively on steel and aluminum imports. His surprise announcement came during a “listening session” at the White House with U.S steel and aluminum company CEOs and in advance of a briefing scheduled with Chinese officials on the impending actions. He described the measures as providing the opportunity for the U.S. to “re-grow” the steel and aluminum industries, which “have been decimated by decades of unfair trade and bad policy with countries from around the world.” Trump only stated the amount of the tariffs; that they would be in effect “for a long period of time”; and that he would sign off on them next week. He did not explain whether they would apply to all exporting countries and/or to all categories of products. The White House provided no other details.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the new Tax Act) may make sexual harassment settlements more expensive for employers. Prior to tax reform, the Tax Code had permitted companies to take a business deduction for the costs of obtaining sexual harassment settlement agreements. The new act prohibits that deduction if sexual harassment or sexual abuse settlements include non-disclosure provisions.

In a warning shot to manufacturers and sellers of aftermarket automobile parts, a Michigan federal court denied a bid to invalidate design patents to body parts of automobiles, holding that they are non-functional as a matter of law. Automotive Body Parts Association v. Ford Global Technologies, LLC, No. 2:15-cv-10137 (E.D. Mich. Feb. 20, 2018).

In one of the most watched Trade Secret Misappropriation cases of the century—which has been billed as an “epic” lawsuit, one of the “juiciest” trade secret cases ever, and one of the “highest profile court battles in Silicon Valley history”—Waymo and Uber have finally reached a settlement in the case that has raged on between them for the past year. As part of the settlement, Waymo (a subsidiary of Google’s parent company) will receive .34 percent of Uber’s equity. If that does not sound like much, considering that Uber is valued at $72 billion, it is. This settlement translates to approximately $244 million. One publication reports that were this amount won in a jury verdict, it would have been one of the highest trade secret jury verdicts in the United States in the past decade.

You may not have been paying attention to the upcoming GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) deadline on May 25^th, thinking that it does not apply to your company, but it may.

In a previous Client Alert, we provided information on the growing trends in telemedicine.  In 2017, that trend continued, as 34 states and the District of Columbia passed 63 pieces of telemedicine legislation.  Nine states passed telehealth legislation mostly easing restitution.  Nebraska, Washington, Tennessee, and Maine passed legislation to join the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, and 22 states now support this effort to streamline physicians licensing in multiple states. Two other states have delayed implementation and four more--including Michigan—still have legislation pending.

The Department of Labor (“DOL”) has announced that the revised claim and appeal procedure regulations under the Employment Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) for employee benefit plans providing disability benefits will soon take effect. The enhanced rules primarily adopt procedural protections and safeguards for disability benefit claims that are currently applicable to claims for group health benefits pursuant to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. As a result, plan administrators of employee benefit plans subject to ERISA will need to quickly act to ensure compliance with the enhanced rules.

How the Sessions Memo Affects the Cannabis Industry in Michigan and Beyond

As the cannabis industry continues to grow across the nation (marijuana use is legal in some fashion in approximately 29 states already), the general public and those with vested business interests in the industry itself are anxious to see whether that growth will either continue or pause in the Trump Era. In Michigan, we are tracking the possibilities of recreational marijuana legalization as early as 2019, following an anticipated vote in the November 2018 general election. That anxiousness is even more pronounced given a recent decision from United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who released a memo on January 4, 2018 (the “Sessions Memo”) rescinding federal guidance that had reassured states that they would not be punished for legalizing marijuana. Politics aside, that rescission has left the public and the industry with more questions than answers. This article attempts to provide a critical update on the status of this developing topic and explores the potential impact on the Cannabis industry in Michigan and beyond.

Effective January 1, 2018, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (the “Budget Act”) implements new rules regarding audits of partnerships. These rules also apply to limited liability companies taxed as partnerships. For partnership tax years beginning in 2018, the Budget Act now imposes an entity level tax collected on the partnership itself to the extent the partnership is audited and the Internal Revenue Service makes an adjustment and determines that there is a tax deficiency in any audit. Prior to application of the Budget Act, audits were normally assessed and paid at the partner level by the partners rather than at the partnership level by the partnership.

In a Letter to State Surveyors, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) has clarified its position on texting patient information, and more notably Orders, among members of a patient’s care team. In a nutshell: Don’t Do It!

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) contraceptive mandate, contained in 2012 agency guidelines fleshing out the ACA “essential health benefit” pertaining to women’s health and preventive services, required most group health plans to provide contraceptive coverage with no cost-sharing, unless the plan sponsor fell within a religious exemption. On October 6, 2017, the Trump Administration issued immediately effective “Interim Final Rules” (the “2017 IFRs”) that “rolled back” that mandate.

Now, however, in two of several lawsuits challenging the new rules, federal courts in California and Pennsylvania have entered nationwide injunctions barring the Administration from enforcing the 2017 IFRs.

This E-News Alert briefly summarizes some of the employee benefits provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “TCJA”) – i.e. the tax reform legislation – recently passed by Congress and expected to be signed by the President into law. Please contact the author of this E-News alert, any member of the Butzel Long employee benefits practice group, or your regular Butzel Long attorney contact for more information.

Congress just passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Act”) that President Trump is expected to sign in the coming days. The Act provides for changes to the tax code that will have far reaching effects for both individuals and businesses.

On Friday, December 15, 2017, Republican leaders in Washington released the final version of their proposal for tax reform. Within a few hours, two Republican senators, who had both opposed previous versions, announced that they were prepared to vote in favor of the final bill. Both houses have now passed the legislation and it is heading to President Trump’s desk for his signature. But what will it mean for tax-exempt nonprofit organizations once it becomes law?

Effective January 1, 2018 the minimum wage in Michigan will increase to $9.25 per hour. This is the result of the graduated increases in the state minimum wage enacted in 2014 by the Michigan Legislature. The minimum wage for tipped employees also increases on January 1 to $3.52 per hour (provided that tips per hour average at least $5.79 since tipped employees must make at least minimum wage when tips are included).

Headline stories from Hollywood to our nation’s capital – with new revelations virtually daily – are setting off alarm bells for employers throughout the country, and for good reason. It is quite likely that the tremendous media attention on the issue of sexual harassment will result in an increase in complaints against employers and potential claims. That, in turn, certainly raises the specter of additional liabilities for employers. But rather than solely viewing the situation as a threat, employers can instead use the current discussion about sexual harassment as an opportunity – an opportunity to ensure their policies are up to date and appropriate, to better educate and train their supervisors and managers, and to display, and in some cases create, a workplace that demonstrates care for its employees--which reflects a non-threatening, comfortable environment, and which promptly and effectively investigates and resolves complaints.