Long Island Employment Law Blog

On Tuesday September 14, 2021, two judges issued orders blocking vaccine mandate requirements from taking effect in New York. One ruling from a federal judge, blocks a state requirement concerning health care workers and another ruling from a state court judge blocks a New York City requirement concerning city workers. What do these rulings mean…

Across the United States, COVID-19 vaccine mandates are rolling out. Schools, colleges, employers, states, and health care facilities are requiring students, employees, and others to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Since the mandates have been announced, the employment and civil rights attorneys at Famighetti & Weinick PLLC have been busy fielding calls about individuals concerned about…

Long Island civil rights attorneys Famighetti & Weinick PLLC have been following the law concerning mandatory vaccinations. Recently, we blogged about the legality of workplaces requiring that employees be vaccinated. Throughout the pandemic, we opined that courts would give deference to government regulations aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19, based on a 1905 Supreme…

On May 5, 2021, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the New York Health and Essential Rights (HERO) Act. The law is designed to protect workers from exposure to infectious disease outbreak. The HERO Act defines covered employees broadly as independent contractors, part-time employees, domestic workers, home health and personal care workers, seasonal workers, and…

Long Island employment law firm Famighetti & Weinick, PLLC recently hired a summer law student intern, Danielle Jacobs. Danielle is a second year student at the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University. During her time as an intern, Danielle has conducted research and drafted memoranda. Danielle has observed Mr. Famighetti and Mr.…

On May 11, 2021, The City of New York enacted a local law that requires private sector employers located in New York City to provide a mandatory retirement savings program for their employees. This program creates a mandatory auto-enrollment deduction individual retirement account (“IRA”) program for employees that work for private sector employers that employ…

The Americans with Disabilities Act, or the ADA, is a federal law which regulates discrimination against individuals with disabilities. The law prohibits discrimination in several areas, including in employment. Like most words in the law, however, disability has a specific definition meaning that to be protected under the law, an individual must have a disability…

The Americans with Disabilities Act is a federal law which requires, among other things, that employers provide reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities. But, what if, by providing an accommodation, the employer would be violating another federal law? Must the employer still provide that accommodation? Recently, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York…

Long Island employment lawyers Famighetti & Weinick PLLC have been blogging about whether employers can lawfully require employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Our blogs have concentrated on guidance issued by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and have opined that workplace vaccination requirements are likely lawful, at least under federal law. But, the EEOC’s…

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Long Island employment lawyers Famighetti & Weinick PLLC published information on our website warning that the financial impact of the pandemic could be used by employers to conduct unlawful discriminatory layoffs. Indeed, the firm has seen this scenario play out. On June 7, 2021, the New York State…