The RISQ RECAP:

September 4th – September 8th, 2023

New Study Says Autonomous Vehicles Significantly Reduce BI/PD Claims

“A new study has revealed that autonomous-vehicle technology reduced bodily injury claims frequency by 100% and property damage claims frequency by 76%. Global reinsurer Swiss Re and automated driving company Waymo partnered on the study. The two compared Waymo’s third-party liability claims data with mileage and ZIP-code-calibrated, human-driven private passenger vehicle baselines established by the insurer for the period of 2016-2021, from over 600,000 claims and over 125 billion miles of exposure.”  Full Article

– Insurance Journal

Return-to-Office Is $1.3 Trillion Problem Few Have Figured Out

“In the emerging post-pandemic era, most aspects of life have returned to normal. Moviegoers are flocking to cinemas, vacationers jammed airports for summer travel and kids are returning to classrooms. The one thing that has remained stubbornly fraught: the world of work. Three and a half years after millions of office-goers were sent home en masse, companies, employees and governments are still figuring out how to adapt to lasting changes to corporate life. But stark differences have emerged across continents and cultures, with Asian and European workers largely returning to offices at a faster pace than their counterparts in the Americas.”  Full Article

– Insurance Journal

Fifth Circuit Makes it Easier for Employees to Assert Title VII Claims Against Employers

“The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently broadened the scope of actionable adverse employment actions that can serve as the basis for a discrimination lawsuit.”  Full Article

– Phelps Dunbar LLP

National Labor Relations Board Significantly Alters Union Election Process

“On Aug. 24 and 25, 2003, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued new regulations and a decision, which together overturn decades of precedent and represent a sea change in the union election process.”  Full Article

– McGuire Woods LLP

OSHA Says Workplace Violence Injuries are Work-Related, Even When Sustained Outside the Workplace

“To increase enforcement concerning workplace violence incidents, OSHA published a Standard Interpretation Letter concluding injuries resulting from workplace violence are recordable, even if the incident occurs outside of the workplace.”  Full Article

– Seyfarth Shaw LLP

EEOC Releases 2022-26 Strategic Plan Highlighting Agency Priorities Regarding Employment Discrimination

“On August 22, 2023, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (‘EEOC’) unveiled its four- year Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2022-2026 that it will use as a framework to advance its goals of preventing and remedying employment discrimination.”  Full Article

– Proskauer Rose LLP

Arizona Federal Court Latest to Hold Judicial Approval of Individual FLSA Settlements is Not Required

“A federal district court in Arizona held this week that courts are not required – or even authorized – to grant judicial approval of settlement agreements resolving individual claims brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), joining a growing number of courts calling into question the notion that private FLSA settlements require review and approval by either a court or the
U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).”  Full Article

– Jackson Lewis P.C.

Right to Reef? The Growing Number of State and Local Laws Addressing Off-Duty Marijuana Use by Employees

“Few areas of the law have evolved more quickly than the quagmire of federal, state, and local laws governing employee use of marijuana. Although cannabis remains a Schedule I drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act, more than two-thirds of all states have legalized medical marijuana. More than 20 states permit adults who are 21 or older to purchase and consume cannabis products recreationally.”  Full Article

– Venable LLP