Kentucky Employers - New Pregnancy Worker Accommodation Law Becomes Effective June 27, 2019
The Kentucky Pregnant Workers Act (“KPWA”) requires Kentucky employers, with 15 or more employees, to evaluate pregnant employees’ requests for accommodations related to medical issues tied to their pregnancy or childbirth somewhat differently.
In Hindsight . . . Supreme Court of Kentucky Reaffirms Its Retrospective Approach to Enforcing Liquidated Damages Provisions
The Supreme Court of Kentucky recently reaffirmed its decision in Mattingly Bridge Co. v. Holloway & Son Const. Co. which established the standard for assessing the enforceability of a liquidated damages provision.
Amazon Unveils Its Utility Patent Neutral Evaluation Procedure
Amazon has recently implemented a relatively inexpensive procedure to address allegations of patent infringement relating to products sold on the world’s largest e-commerce site.
Public Service Commission of Kentucky Proposes Amending Regulation Governing Uniform Fuel Adjustment Clauses
Fuel adjustment clauses (FAC) have been a feature of electric bills in Kentucky since the 1950s. An FAC adjusts on a monthly basis the kWh rate paid by customers for electricity to reflect changes in the cost of fuel, and in many instances, purchased energy.
Lawyer Up! Kentucky Imposes New Requirement for Legal Representation at Unemployment Hearings
In 1984, the Kentucky Legislature enacted KRS 341.407(3), permitting employers, including corporations and partnerships, to represent themselves or be represented by counsel in administrative unemployment proceedings. Thirty-five years later, on April 26, 2019, the Kentucky Court of Appeals declared that law unconstitutional and effectively held that a lawyer must represent corporations and non-natural entities in administrative unemployment proceedings.
Employee Race, Ethnicity, and Gender Data Due to EEOC by May 31, 2019; Employee Pay Data Due by September 30, 2019
Employers with 100 or more employees, and federal contractors who have 50 or more workers and contracts worth $50,000 or more, have until May 31, 2019 to provide the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) data regarding the number of employees they have by job category, race, ethnicity, and gender for the 2018 calendar year (“Component 1 data”).
Groundhog Day? Supreme Court Strikes Down Class Arbitration Efforts...Again
In what finally may prove to be the effective death knell for most efforts to pursue class-wide arbitration, a closely-divided United States Supreme Court has now held that a party cannot be required to arbitrate claims on a class-wide basis unless the arbitration agreement clearly contemplates such a possibility.
Kentucky General Assembly Approves Electronic Recording and Notarization
The General Assembly recently passed Senate Bill 114 into law, which will reform Kentucky’s recording and notary laws in two significant ways: county clerks will soon be able to record real estate deeds, mortgages and other documents electronically, and notaries public will be able to notarize real estate documents electronically and remotely.