As the dust settles on COVID-19, it seems it is now easier to become isolated from others in the legal community, and even from those in your own firm. With many courts and law offices going hybrid, there are fewer organic opportunities to connect, whether through in-person court conferences or birthday cake in the break room at the office. Some of these new efficiencies are great, but many come with a trade-off.
Previous versions of HEA 1001 provided that any worker could be granted a religious exemption to a vaccine mandate without employers inquiring into the validity of the employees’ claims. Had that version of the bill passed through the General Assembly and been signed by Holcomb, Indiana employers would have clear marching orders when it came to religious exemptions from vaccine mandates. But that provision was hotly contested and, ultimately, removed from the version of the bill that is now law in Indiana. So the question remains: What should Indiana employers do when they receive a request for religious exemption from a COVID-19 vaccine mandate?
The Marion Circuit and Superior Courts have relaxed the COVID-19 public health requirements for individuals and employees entering any of their judicial facilities.
Gov. Eric Holcomb on Thursday signed into law legislation to end Indiana’s public health emergency and limit employer vaccine mandates, shortly after state lawmakers sent the measure to his desk.
The Indiana House voted Thursday to send watered-down legislation to limit employer vaccine mandates to the governor, who is expected to soon sign it into law.
Visitors of the federal courthouses in the Southern District of Indiana will no longer be required to wear face coverings or socially distance while entering and occupying public spaces beginning next week, according to a Wednesday order from Chief Judge Tanya Walton Pratt.
As COVID-19 numbers descend, we are left with a plethora of mixed feelings. Many are overwhelmed with joy and giddiness. Some are still numb and can’t feel anything — yet. And others are trying to make sense of the past two years and the lasting realities that lay ahead. Our courts and judges fit into the latter category.
COVID-19 regulations have found their way into the legal and political spheres. The most recent and highly anticipated legal battle made its way to the Supreme Court, leaving the court to decide how employers should be regulated when it comes to mitigating COVID-19 risks. With the current composition of the Supreme Court, including three new justices, the court ultimately left the regulation to the employers themselves, at least temporarily.
The Indiana Senate passed a watered-down version of the House Republicans’ bill to limit employer vaccine mandates, sending it back to the House where its future is cloudy.
The Biden administration will significantly loosen federal mask-wearing guidelines designed to protect against COVID-19 transmission on Friday, according to two people familiar with the matter, meaning most Americans will no longer be advised to wear masks in indoor public settings.
Officials at Indiana’s largest hospital system said Tuesday that its hospitals have weathered the worst of the latest COVID-19 surge, although they are still treating hundreds of patients with the illness.
Republican leaders in the House and Senate said from the outset of the 2022 legislative session that they didn’t see eye to eye on some of the highest-profile issues — and the Senate proved that last week when it stripped key provisions from several House bills.
An Indiana woman may administratively appeal the denial of her application for pandemic unemployment benefits, the Court of Appeals of Indiana ruled after the Department of Workforce Development failed to present evidence challenging the timeliness of the appeal.
Indiana schools and child care programs will no longer have to conduct contact tracing or report COVID-19 cases to the state Department of Health as of next Wednesday, state officials announced Thursday.
Lawmakers in the Indiana Senate on Wednesday morning struck language from the House GOP’s vaccine mandates bill that would have forced employers to accept any religious exemptions without further question.
A self-employed traveling actor from New York shouldn’t have received pandemic unemployment assistance in Indiana via the CARES Act, the Court of Appeals of Indiana has affirmed, but not because of where her last employer was located.
The ongoing pandemic has created another delay in the long-pending fraud trial of two former Celadon Group Inc. executives.
The Allen Circuit and Superior Courts are extending their pause on jury trials due to continued COVID concerns.
Gov. Eric Holcomb extended Indiana’s COVID-19 public health emergency for another month on Tuesday, though his intentions to end the declaration remained ensnarled in a legislative debate over whether the state should severely limit businesses from imposing workplace vaccination requirements.
The pandemic has changed the way people approach virtually every aspect of their lives, and law school is no exception. As professors alter their approaches to teaching to be more accommodating and supportive toward students, some Indiana educators admit they’ve felt the same pressure, too.