Diana Uhimov, May 15, 2017 On May 15, 2017, New York City’s “Freelance Isn’t Free Act” (FIFA), N.Y.C. Administrative Code §§ 20-927 et seq., went into effect, impacting companies that hire independent contractors in New York City (NYC). This is the country’s first law shielding freelancers from nonpayment and it is likely that similar laws will be passed in other states given trends in the workforce toward the “gig economy”.  FIFA aims to protect freelancers from non-payment and employer retaliation for exercising their new rights. FIFA defines a…

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Diana Uhimov, February 23, 2016 The Compassionate Care Act (CCA) was signed into law in New York in 2014, making New York the 23rd state in the U.S. to legalize medical marijuana.  The CCA regulates the manufacture, sale and use of medical marijuana in New York.  Under the Act, certified patients are allowed to use marijuana for treatment of a “serious condition” so long as the treatment is prescribed by a certified physician.  Additionally, the CCA establishes employment regulations for medical marijuana use, including the creation of new…

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Diana Uhimov, January 7, 2016 On December 19, 2015, the New York City Commission on Human Rights announced that the city’s Human Rights Law would establish among the strongest protections in the country for transgender people.  New York City landlords, employers and businesses will be subject to the new regulations.  Gender identity and expression bias has been illegal in New York City since 2002.  But the announcement provided guidance for the first time on what conduct constitutes discrimination under the city’s Human Rights Law, setting forth penalties of…

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Diana Uhimov, May 22, 2015 On May 10, 2015, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that he would enact emergency measures to combat the wage theft and workplace safety hazards faced by the thousands of people who work in New York State’s nail salon industry. The new rules come after a series of New York Times articles brought to light the working conditions and potential health risks suffered by nail salon employees who are often times immigrants with a high language barrier and unaware of their rights. The articles…

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Diana Uhimov, November 5, 2014. On Oct. 9, the Second Circuit sided with Fujifilm Medical Systems USA Inc. in Weber v. Fujifilm Medical Systems USA Inc., et al., an employee discrimination case brought by John J. Weber, former executive vice president. Weber alleged he was fired because he was not Japanese, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act’s prohibition on discrimination in employment based on race and national origin. The court ruled that Fujifilm could use “after-acquired” evidence, or evidence of the employee’s misconduct during the period…

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Diana Uhimov, February 12, 2014. After an eight-year battle, Google recently prevailed in a copyright infringement case brought against it by the Authors Guild, in Authors Guild v. Google. Second Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Denny Chin approved Google’s use of its digital book library, which is available to the general public for searching in an online database. Since 2004, Google has scanned more than 20 million books, making excerpts of text viewable online, under agreements with several research libraries to digitize their collections as part of its Google Books project. Authors…

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