In a recent development, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has reached a settlement with Doctors’ Management Services. The settlement amount agreed upon is $100,000. This action took place after a ransomware attack, during which the protected health details of as many as 206,695 individuals were compromised. This news comes via a press release issued…
In a significant development, Apple has agreed to pay $25 million to settle claims of employment discrimination based on citizenship, as announced by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) earlier this week. The settlement agreement brings a close to the DOJ’s investigation by its Immigration and Employee Rights Section into Apple’s alleged discriminatory hiring and…
In 1991, the US Supreme Court affirmed the state’s authority to prohibit trial participants from speaking about the trial if it risks ‘materially prejudicing’ the judicial process. The ruling was a part of the landmark case, Gentile v. State Bar of Nevada, which originally pertained to a ban on attorneys commenting on ongoing lawsuits. This…
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Wednesday that it has initiated a pattern or practice investigation into the City of Lexington’s police department (LPD). The probe will look into the LPD’s “use of force and its stops, searches and arrests” to determine if there are systemic violations of the Constitution and federal law….
The recent Executive Order by the White House on the Safe Secure And Trustworthy Development And Use of Artificial-Intelligence (AI), otherwise known as the “EO”, addresses a wide range of equity and civil rights issues correlated to AI. The order consequently enacts certain commands to certify that AI goes on to foster equity and uphold…
The Greater Rochester Independent Practice Association Inc. (“GRIPA”) has recently filed a notice of data breach with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights. The breach, which came to light on October 26, 2023, impacted approximately 280,000 individuals. It has been identified that a software vulnerability within MOVEit was the…
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR), recently reached a settlement for $100,000 under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) with Doctors’ Management Services (DMS), a Massachusetts-based medical management company. This resolution follows a ransomware attack that impacted the firm’s electronic services. Offering medical billing, payor…
A recent case in which a U.S. federal appeals court had to determine whether a Texas pharmacy’s management created a hostile work environment for an employee with asthma has faced significant scrutiny. The employee had requested permission to wear a mask to protect themselves against Covid-19, only to be subsequently berated and insulted. The appeal…
Last month, President Biden issued an extensive Executive Order (EO) centered around the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The EO is poised to create a standard for AI technology, taking into consideration both potential benefits and associated risks. The President’s executive order aims to implement guidelines, establish best practices,…
A legal challenge has arisen concerning the Online Tracking Tools regulation part of the OCR HIPAA (Office for Civil Rights, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). The lawsuit seeks to obstruct the issuance of this guidance. This guidance caters to a range of significant concerns for hospitals. As institutions tasked with patient care, hospitals cherish…
On November 2, 2023, a significant case was filed that could reshape legal proceedings related to online user tracking. The American Hospital Association and the Texas Hospital Association, together with Texas Health Resources and United Regional Health Care System, filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and…
A cohort of eleven Republican Senators, all members of the Senate Banking Committee, have requested that both the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) step back from a joint statement that they published recently. The statement pertained to the supposed civil rights implications of a creditor’s consideration of an individual’s…
The topic of Title IX complaints within educational settings is a complex one that continues to evolve. Specifically, professionals often face the quandary of how to handle instances when where complainants decline to make a formal Title IX complaint. Recent legal insights may provide unexpected solutions to this issue. The National School Attorney’s Association (NSAA)…
The New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) is advocating for a reform in biometric data and face identification laws, urging the state Legislature to take firm steps. In a recent report, they proposed to expand the Civil Rights Act of New York. The primary purpose of this expansion is to prohibit companies from discriminating against…
On October 23, 2023, the Dakota Eye Institute (DEI) reported a significant data breach that has affected upwards of 107,000 individuals. The Institute submitted an official notice to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights following the discovery that a cyberattack had compromised the personal information of their patients. (JD…
The California Civil Rights Council (CRD), previously known as the DFEH, has ushered in new regulations that modify the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). These regulations dictate the conditions under which California employers may contemplate a prospective employee’s criminal history during their evaluation process. They became effective on October 1, 2023, and introduce an…
The New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) is urging state lawmakers to modify New York law to prevent companies, like Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp., from employing facial recognition technology to restrict people from sports venues. The association has voiced its support behind the legislature’s Biometric Privacy Act. This proposed act would necessitate private companies…
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) released a statement on Friday, arguing that an attack by Israeli forces on their ambulances was a violation of the Geneva Conventions and constituted a war crime. The statement condemned the assault, which the PRCS claims was targeted at ambulances conveying injured civilians between Gaza and Rafah to the…
Under the Biden Administration, on October 30, 2023, the Executive Order on Safe, Secure and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence (AI) was signed. This move has attracted significant attention from legal professionals across the globe – especially those advising technology firms and major corporations that are heavily invested in AI and machine learning technologies. The Executive Order…
Last week, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) revealed two new resources crafted to aid patients in comprehending the privacy and security risks related to their health information through telehealth. Additionally, it suggested measures that could be taken to minimize such risks. These developments are part of a coordinated effort across the industry to address…
The question of whether public officials are acting “under color of” state law when they block comments on their social media pages is currently under consideration by the U.S. Supreme Court. The matter emerged during the hearing of two cases, Lindke v. Freed and O’Connor-Ratcliff v. Garnier on October 31, 2023. These cases are bringing…
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ) released its Comprehensive Environmental Justice Enforcement Strategy Report on October 13, 2023. This is the first-ever report of its kind, outlining the OEJ’s environmental justice achievements since its inception and its enforcement strategy for the forthcomings years. The announcement was reported by JDSupra. Of particular…
As the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues to escalate, the United States is experiencing a concerning surge in Islamophobic and antisemitic incidents, according to reports from Muslim and Jewish civil rights organizations. This uptick, seen since the onset of the war on October 7, has been both substantial and alarming. The Council on American-Islamic…
In a recent significant legal development in Peru, the Constitutional Court ruled in favor of fathers’ rights to register their children when the mother’s identity is unknown to them. The decision is being hailed as a victory for gender equality in the South American nation. A detailed account of this landmark ruling was reported by…
In a recent development, Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that sought to make caste-based discrimination illegal in California. The legislation, namely, Senate Bill No. 403, was proposed to expand the definition of “ancestry” under three major pieces: the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), California Education Code and the Unruh Civil Rights Act…