Client Alerts

While non-compete agreements are regularly used in the employer-employee context and enforcement disputes surrounding those types of agreements often make headlines, a lesser known, but certainly regular, use of non-compete agreements can be found in many other settings, including the sale of a business or other commercial transactions where one company or party agrees to restrictive covenants on a going forward basis.

On April 10, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) began to roll out the $30 billion in Provider Relief Fund (PRF) payments authorized as part of the $100 billion in financial assistance to healthcare providers under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”).

In today’s environment, it is less likely – though not impossible – that federal agents will show up at your company’s door tomorrow. 

On April 14, 2020, the Michigan Strategic  Fund (“MSF”) Board approved the establishment of the Michigan Strategic Fund Awardee Relief Initiative (the “Initiative”)  for one year that allows the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (“MEDC”) to provide relief to companies that have loans or grants from the MSF.

Yesterday, April 9, 2020, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer issued Executive Order 2020-42, extending her “Stay Home, Stay Safe” Order through April 30. 

Nearly every state has now issued an executive order mandating that most businesses cease operating from their physical locations and that “non-essential” employees work from home until further notice.

The economic devastation wrought by the coronavirus pandemic has business owners across the country scrambling to see if they have insurance coverage for their losses. In many cases, they are being advised by their brokers and insurers that the news is not good:  most standard insurance policies, they are told, do not provide coverage. 

Governor Whitmer extended Michigan’s “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order today, issuing more restrictions and instructing individuals and most businesses to “stay home” until April 30, 2020. 

On March 20, 2020, the due date for federal income tax returns and payments, ordinarily due April 15, 2020, was extended to July 15, 2020.

On March 31, 2020, the state of Washington passed a detailed law regulating the use of facial recognition software by state and local government agencies, Senate Bill 6280 (the “Act”). The Act is intended to promote the use of facial recognition services in a manner that benefits society, while prohibiting use that threatens civil liberties.

As most people associated with the cannabis business know, up until the Agricultural Act of 2018 (the Farm Bill), possession or sale of marijuana or cannabis has been illegal under federal law. There was an exception made under the Farm Bill for certain products coming under the new definition of “hemp”, in short, THC concentration of not more than 0.3 percent.  

On Friday, April 3, 2020, Governor Whitmer issued Executive Order 2020-36. This recent Executive Order focused primarily on the employment setting and also stressed that those who have been infected or in close contact with someone who was infected, stay home unless absolutely necessary and then, wear a mask. 

On April 2, 2020, Governor Gretchen Whitmer issued Executive Order No. 2020-35, suspending in-person K-12 instruction for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. Governor Whitmer’s Executive Order has a wide-ranging impact on public school districts, public school academies (charter schools), teachers and, of course, students and parents.

On March 31st, 2020, Mexico’s Secretary of Health published a resolution in Mexico Official Gazette ordering the stop of all business activities in Mexico that are not deemed “essential”.

On March 31, 2020, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) issued a temporary enforcement memo to address environmental compliance obligations in light of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s March 23, 2020 emergency COVID-19 response “Stay at Home” Executive Order, 2020-21 (Order). 

The two trillion dollar coronavirus relief act (“CARES Act”) was officially enacted on March 27. The act includes provisions to allow participants special access to retirement funds, thus providing a source of cash. 

The CARES Act, signed into law by President Trump on March, 27, 2020,  provides a significant change for financially distressed small businesses under the recently enacted Small Business Reorganization Act (“SBRA”). 

The Department of Labor has updated its Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) question and answer website three different times in a five-day period, including on Saturday, March 28, 2020, to address some of the most pressing questions facing employers leading up to the April 1, 2020 effective date of the FFCRA’s two leave laws.

On Monday, March 23, Governor Whitmer issued Executive Order 2020-21, commonly known as the “Stay Home” Order.[*] It exempts “critical infrastructure workers” from the stay home mandate and incorporates the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) March 19, 2020 advisory guidance (the “Initial CISA Guidance”) as to the which workers are critical.

On Friday, March 27, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act of 2020 (or "CARES" Act) (Pub. L. No. 116-136) (H.R. 748).