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- New Louisiana Regulation Creates Safe Harbor For Certain Equity-Based Compensatory Plans of Privately-Held Companies
by Dean P. Cazenave Offers and sales of “securities” must be registered unless there is an applicable exemption from the federal and state securities laws. The most commonly known exemption is the private placement exemption set forth in Regulation D promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Act of 1933 (and corresponding private placement exemptions under applicable state “blue sky” laws). Regulation D was primarily designed to facilitate capital raising transactions, as opposed to employee stock option or stock purchase plans. Many people are unaware that when an employer (or controlling Shareholder) sells stock to an employee (even at a discount, or even if to an executive), such a sale is subject to the securities laws and applicable federal and state exemptions from registration must be found. Federal Rule 701 In 1988, the SEC adopted Rule 701 which exempts from registration securities issued pursuant to a written .... - Department of Labor Issues New Family and Medical Leave Act Regulations
by A. Edward Hardin, Jr. The U.S. Department of Labor has released the new Family and Medical Leave Act regulations. The new regulations will become effective January 16, 2009. The DOL issued its proposed new regulations in February 2008.The DOL received over 20,000 comments regarding the proposed regulations, and the new regulations are over 700 pages long. But with an effective date in January 2009, employers do not have long to learn the in’s and out’s of the new regulations. Stay tuned as we review the new regulations too. .... - United States Fifth Circuit Holds that Willful Concealment of a Prior Medical Condition From a Jones Act Employer May Constitute Contributory Negligence
By Clay Cosse While a Jones Act seaman’s willful concealment of a pre-existing medical condition has long been held to preclude a seaman’s recovery for maintenance and cure benefits, willful concealment has never acted as a bar to recovery under the Jones Act. The Fifth Circuit’s recent ruling in Leroy Johnson v. Cenac Towing, Inc. provides both comfort and caveat to the Jones Act employer. [See 2008 WL 4330553 (5th Cir. 2008)]. The comfort: the seaman who willfully conceals a pre-existing medical condition from his employer does so to his own peril—if his concealment causes the seaman to suffer a re-injury, the seaman will be precluded from recovering maintenance and cure, and will see his Jones Act claim reduced in proportion to the percentage of fault attributable to his concealment. The caveat: insurance benefits received by a Jones Act seaman under an employer financed health insurance plans that provide coverage only for non-work-related ....
