The groundbreaking Supreme Court of the United States case, NCAA v. Alston, opened the door for student-athletes to obtain compensation for use of his or her “name, image, or likeness” (“NILs”) in marketing or promotion materials at a local, state, regional, and national level.[1]  In Alston, the Supreme Court agreed with the challenging group of student-athletes that the NCAA rules limiting compensation compared to that offered in a free market violated federal antitrust regulations.[2] Until Congress passes uniform federal legislation, there is no guidance and states are left to create their own legislation.  Right now, 15 states have legislation pending and 26 have NILs legislation passed, which includes New Jersey. This author believes the NJ legislation is problematic and needs to be fixed.

Written by: Susan L. Swatski

On September 9, 2021, President Biden announced a six part “Path Out of the Pandemic” plan which requires private-sector businesses with at least 100 employees to mandate that employees get vaccinated against the Coronavirus or submit to weekly testing. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) will soon issue emergency temporary standards (“ETS”) to address how the mandate will be enforced and what exemptions may apply.

Written by: Susan L. Swatski, Esq.

Under prior guidance, the CDC defined a close contact as someone who spent at least 15 consecutive minutes within six feet of an infected person, thus putting the individual at higher risk of contracting the virus.  The CDC updated its guidance to define a close contact as:

“Someone who was within six feet of an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period starting from two days before illness onset (or, for asymptomatic patients, two days prior to test specimen collection) until the time the patient is isolated.”

In sum, the standard is now cumulative rather than consecutive minutes which greatly broadens who may need to be notified in the event of a positive case.  For example, a person who was exposed three times in a 24-hour period—for five minutes during each encounter—would meet the definition.  Please check your policies for contact tracing and be sure to note this important change.