The Library

Sherman Act Restraint of Trade Every contract, combination or conspiracy in restraint of trade or commerce among the States is illegal. 15 U.S.C. Section 1. A restraint of trade cause of action requires showing that: the activities are in or affect interstate or foreign commerce; the activities are performed by two or more persons; the activities are the result of concerted action; the concerted action is a restraint on commerce; and the restraint is unreasonable. See Levine v. McLeskey, 881 F. Supp. 1030, 1044 (E.D. Va. 1995); Estate Constr. Co. v. Miller & Smith Holding Co., 14 F. 3d 213, […]

The full article is available in pre-formatted PDF format under the Additional Reading section. ALFA International Labor and Employment Update, Summer 2004 W. David Paxton, July 23, 2004 Introduction In a recent case out in the Tenth Circuit, two employees sued their former employer for retaliation after they were terminated for making allegations of harassment which the employer concluded were intentionally false. Renner-Wallace v. Cessna Aircraft Co., 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4134 (D. Kan.), aff’d 95 Fed. Appx. 967 (10th Cir. 2004). The district court granted the employer’s motion for summary judgment holding that the employees had failed to present any […]

Published in Virginia Lawyers Weekly, July 19, 2004 The full article is available in pre-formatted PDF format under the Additional Reading section. Introduction Where plaintiffs assert their business and land suffered damage from flooding from a nearby owner’s property after he installed culverts in a stream, which overflowed during a flood, the carrier cannot rely on the “pollution exclusion” clause of a commercial general liability policy issued to defendant property owner’s business to deny a defense.

Virginia Lawyer, June/July 2004 The full article is available in pre-formatted PDF format by clicking on the “Associated File” link below. Introduction For attorneys practicing health law, consulting the Privacy Standards of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) is almost an everyday event. Since these extensive and complicated rules were published in December of 2000, we have been advising health care providers and health plans (“covered entities” under HIPAA) on the steps they should take to become compliant. For other attorneys, however, HIPAA has become a roadblock to patient information that used to be much more accessible.

W. David Paxton In a combination of reports released, the federal government has made an effort to revive the debate regarding the disparity in pay and position between many men and women which is frequently referred to as the Glass Ceiling phenomenon. [1]  GAO Report. In November, 2003, the General Accounting Office reported that women earn only about $.80 for every $1.00 paid to a man, which is the same pay gap that has persisted for nearly 20 years. The report entitled Women’s Earnings: Work Patterns Partially Explain Differences Between Men and Women’s Earnings. According to this report, several key […]

HIPAA’s Impact on Litigation J. Rudy Austin Robyn Smith Ellis Congress enacted the Privacy Standards of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to protect patients from unauthorized disclosure of their medical records. HIPAA regulations require healthcare providers to establish policies and procedures that comply with the Privacy Standards. One of the many questions raised by HIPAA is the effect of the Privacy Standards on statutes in many states, including Virginia, that allow lawyers defending claims or lawsuits brought by patients against their own physicians or others, under certain proscribed circumstances, to have ex parte (without the patient or […]

Robyn Smith Ellis On April 7, 2004, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security administration released Field Assistance Bulletin 2004-1 which provides enforcement guidance to field investigators on health savings accounts (“HSAs”). The guidance is intended to facilitate the adoption of health savings accounts by employers. The Department of Labor believes that HSAs will lead to more choices and lower health care costs for American workers and their families. The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (“Act”) permits eligible individuals to establish HSAs effective January 1, 2004. Generally, eligible individuals are those who are covered under […]

W. David Paxton While neither the Fourth Circuit nor Virginia courts have yet addressed the issue, the California Court of Appeals has held that current or former employees who post defamatory statements about a business on the Internet can be held legally accountable for such false statements. In Varian Medical Systems, Inc. v. Delfino, H024214 (Cal. Ct. App. 2003), two former employees posted numerous derogatory messages about Varian and two of its executives. A jury found the defendants liable for defamation, invasion of privacy, breach of contract and conspiracy, awarding $425,000 in general damages and $350,000 in punitive damages. On […]

Introduction The new Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (“Act”) permits eligible individuals to establish Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) starting January 1, 2004.  HSAs are similar to Archer Medical Savings Accounts (“Archer MSAs”) as well as Individual Retirement Accounts (“IRAs”).  They offer tax-sheltered savings like an IRA, and withdrawals for qualified medical expenses are tax-free.  After a beneficiary attains the age of 65, withdrawals for anything other than qualified medical expenses (which continue to be tax-free) are treated the same as distributions from traditional IRAs. Like an Archer MSA, an HSA is established for the benefit of […]