On November 15, 2024, a federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas struck down the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) 2024 overtime rule (“Overtime Rule”). This decision came months after the Overtime Rule went into effect and the first increase to the salary requirement was implemented. Due to the delay in the ruling, many employers have already made changes to comply with the first increase and are left wondering what they should do now.
Continue Reading Judge Tosses DOL Overtime Increase – What Employers Should Be Considering and Other Wage & Hour Reminders
Wisconsin Appellate Court Interprets Construction Defect Exclusion and Fungi Exclusion
Cincinnati Insurance Company v. James Ropicky, et al., No. 2023AP588, 2024 WL 5220615 (Wis. Ct. App. Dec. 26, 2024)
On December 26, 2024, the Court of Appeals of Wisconsin issued is decision in Cincinnati Insurance Company v. James Ropicky, et al., No. 2023AP588, 2024 WL 5220615 (Wis. Ct. App. Dec. 26, 2024), addressing whether an ensuing cause of loss exception to a Construction Defect Exclusion, Fungi Exclusion, and Fungi Additional Coverage endorsement contained in a homeowner’s insurance policy issued
Continue Reading Wisconsin Appellate Court Interprets Construction Defect Exclusion and Fungi Exclusion
Appeals Court: Circuit Court Lost Competency in Final Hearing for Involuntary Commitment After Required Report Arrived Late
Jan. 9, 2025 – A required psychological report filed less than 48 hours before a final hearing for involuntary commitment stripped the circuit court of competency because it deprived the person to be committed of due process, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals recently decided in Outagamie County v. M.J.B., 2024 AP 250. Circuit courts have subject matter jurisdiction under the Wisconsin Constitution, but a circuit court may not be competent to hear a case if it fails to
Continue Reading Appeals Court: Circuit Court Lost Competency in Final Hearing for Involuntary Commitment After Required Report Arrived Late
Appeals Court: Attorney General Must Comply with Legislative Limits on Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) Settlements
Dec. 30, 2024 – Attorney General Josh Kaul violated two provisions of controversial 2017 Act 369, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, District II decided 2-1 in another case implicating separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches.
The Legislature passed and outgoing Gov. Scott Walker signed Act 369 shortly after the November 2018 election changed the balance of power in Madison, requiring the attorney general to “deposit all settlement funds into the general fund.” Prior to that, the
Continue Reading Appeals Court: Attorney General Must Comply with Legislative Limits on Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) Settlements
Appeals Court: Social Security Income Did Not Preclude Restitution Award
Dec. 13, 2024 – A restitution award was appropriate even though more than half the defendant’s income came from Social Security Disability Income (SSDI), the Wisconsin Court of Appeals District II recently ruled in
State v. Joling, 2023AP1023-CR (Dec. 11, 2024). Under 42 U.S.C. section 407(a), money paid from Social Security shall not be “subject to execution, levy, attachment, garnishment, or other legal process.” Eric J. Joling pleaded no contest to one count of OWI (fifth offense)
Continue Reading Appeals Court: Social Security Income Did Not Preclude Restitution Award
The Corporate Transparency Act is Here (Kinda). Now It’s in Court (Again)?
My pause on BOI blogging content was solid, but recent events in federal court have caused me to spring back into action. For those of you tuning back in, this post relates to our firm’s series about the Corporate Transparency Act and Beneficial Ownership Reporting. Please follow the link here to see all our firm’s posts on this topic.
When I last posted about legal challenges to the Corporate Transparency Act in federal court (see here), a
Continue Reading The Corporate Transparency Act is Here (Kinda). Now It’s in Court (Again)?
No Need to Report – CTA Blocked
What happened?
On December 3, 2024, a federal district court in Texas found the Corporate Transparency Act (the “CTA”) to be unconstitutional and issued a nation-wide order to ban it. The case before the court was Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc., et al. v. Garland, et. al, Case No. 4:24-cv-478 (E.D. Tex.). This means that companies do not need to comply with the CTA’s reporting deadlines.
What is the Corporate Transparency Act?
The CTA would have required the vast
Continue Reading No Need to Report – CTA Blocked
Dane County Circuit Court Issues Long-Awaited 2011 Act 10 Decision
On Monday, December 2, 2024, Dane County Circuit Court Judge Jacob Frost issued the long-awaited decision involving a November 2023 challenge to 2011 Act 10 by numerous unions and individual employees. On July 3, 2024, the Circuit Court previously indicated the Court would find specific provisions of Act 10 as unconstitutional. A summary of our Legal Update on that July decision from the Circuit Court can be found here.
In the December 2 decision, the Court identified nearly
Continue Reading Dane County Circuit Court Issues Long-Awaited 2011 Act 10 Decision
Appeals Court Upholds Law Giving Legislature Power to Approve DOJ Settlements
Dec. 3, 2024 – Legislation that required Joint Finance Committee (JFC) approval on settlements in cases prosecuted by the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) did not violate the constitutional separation of powers between legislative and executive branches, a majority of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, District II has concluded.
In Kaul v. Wisconsin State Legislature, 2022 AP 790 (Dec. 2, 2024), the three-judge panel reversed (2-1) the Dane County Circuit Court’s summary judgment orders, concluding the lower court
Continue Reading Appeals Court Upholds Law Giving Legislature Power to Approve DOJ Settlements
Seventh Circuit Enforces Supreme Court’s Landmark Overhaul of Standards for Title VII Employment Discrimination Claims
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently reversed a decision from the District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, which had dismissed a Title VII employment discrimination complaint for failure to state a claim. The law underpinning the District Court’s decision had been overruled by the Supreme Court of the United States, resulting in the Seventh Circuit reversing the District Court. In its April 17, 2024, decision in Muldrow v. City of St. Louis, the
Continue Reading Seventh Circuit Enforces Supreme Court’s Landmark Overhaul of Standards for Title VII Employment Discrimination Claims
Catholic Charities of Wisconsin might be going to the US Supreme Court
The diocese has petitioned for review before the US Supreme Court the Catholic Charities decision by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Note: All the filed materials with the US Supreme Court are available at the court’s public docket for this case.
In its decision, Catholic Charities v. LIRC, 2024 WI 13, the Wisconsin Supreme Court held that non-profit entities affiliated with the diocese (but not actually funded by the diocese) were not exempt from paying unemployment taxes
Continue Reading Catholic Charities of Wisconsin might be going to the US Supreme Court
Seventh Circuit Upholds Decision Denying Coverage for Autism-related Treatment
Sept. 10, 2024 – A party seeking health insurance coverage for autism-related medical treatment has lost an appeal at the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, in Midthun-Hensen v. Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin, No. 23-2100 (Aug. 5, 2024). Beginning in 2017, Angela Midthun-Hensen and Tony Hensen asked their insurer, Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin, Inc., (Group Health) to cover speech therapy and sensory integration therapy for their autistic son. Group Health decided that neither therapy
Continue Reading Seventh Circuit Upholds Decision Denying Coverage for Autism-related Treatment
Cellphone Tower Separation Ordinance Preempted by State Law
Sept. 9, 2024 – A county zoning ordinance requiring cellphone towers to be at least one-half mile apart is preempted by state law, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals (District IV) has ruled in
Savich v. Columbia County Board of Adjustment, 2023AP78 (July 18, 2024). In August 2020, Tillman Infrastructure, LLC (Tillman) and AT&T Mobility (AT&T) applied to the Columbia County Planning and Zoning Department for a permit to build a cellphone tower at a specific site on farmland
Continue Reading Cellphone Tower Separation Ordinance Preempted by State Law
Failure to Address Jurisdictional Issue Rendered Appeal Frivolous
Sept. 6, 2024 – A plaintiff’s failure to honestly and meaningfully address a question of appellate jurisdiction under
28 U.S.C. section 2107 rendered his appeal frivolous, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has ruled in
Upchurch v. O’Brien, 22-2541 (Aug. 6, 2024). As a result, the Seventh Circuit held, sanctions under
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (FRCP) 38 were appropriate. The Great Outdoors Timothy O’Brien and his wife Margaret owned a resort on Catfish
Continue Reading Failure to Address Jurisdictional Issue Rendered Appeal Frivolous
Failure to Object to Post-hearing Lineup Identification Not Deficient
Aug. 29, 2024 – Whether the right to counsel had attached at a probable cause hearing wasn’t a settled matter of law, meaning an attorney wasn’t deficient when he failed to object to a lineup identification that occurred without counsel present, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals (District I) has ruled in
State v. Robinson, 2020AP1728 (Aug. 6, 2024). On Dec. 18, 2017, a man walked into a U.S. Bank branch on West Capitol Drive in Milwaukee and slipped
Continue Reading Failure to Object to Post-hearing Lineup Identification Not Deficient
No Warrant Required for Cell Phone Data of Armed Man Heading Toward Unrest
Aug. 29, 2024 – The FBI was not required to seek a warrant before obtaining cell phone data on an armed man heading toward the site of civil unrest because of exigent circumstances, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has held in
U.S. v. Karmo, No. 23-1082 (July 31, 2024). Civil unrest broke out in Kenosha on Aug. 23, 2020, after the police shot a Black man while attempting to arrest him. Michael Karmo and
Continue Reading No Warrant Required for Cell Phone Data of Armed Man Heading Toward Unrest