New legislation will impact employment, business law
Listen to this article
For many, the start of summer means warmer temperatures, the end of the school year and the promise of outdoor activities and vacations to come as the seasons change. In Virginia, the start of summer means another thing is on the horizon: the effective date of much of the legislation passed in the winter by the General Assembly.
While the passage of Senate Bill 1218, which further narrows the ability of employers to enforce noncompete agreements in Virginia, took many of the headlines, other legislation coming into effect July 1 could impact attorneys in the business and employment law spaces.
“I think the biggest one for me is the personal injury and wrongful death liability law,” Williamsburg attorney Brian Muse said. “This bill would create liability for employers based on workplace injuries if that person is a ‘vulnerable victim.’”
The legislation, Senate Bill 894, adds Va. Code § 8.01-42.6 to allow a jury to find an employer liable for the acts of an employee if the employer knew the employee could be in contact with a “vulnerable victim,” a term defined in the statute as “any person who is at a substantial disadvantage relative to an employee due to circumstances, including such person’s physical or mental condition or characteristics.”
The new code section goes on to define “vulnerable victim” to include patients at health care providers, a “person under a...
USCellular urged the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday to uphold a D.C. Circuit ruling that dismissed whistleblowers’ False Claims Act (FCA) claims alleging spectrum auction fraud, branding their reque...