Easing of COVID restrictions
- Several of the nation’s largest companies, such as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan & Chase Co. and Cisco, continue to roll back COVID mandates.
- These firms have lifted vaccination requirements and are even hiring unvaccinated individuals again.
- Cisco stopped requiring vaccination for office entry, travel, event attendance, or visiting customers, partners, and other third parties.
- A high court allowed a more limited mandate requiring health care workers at facilities receiving federal money to be vaccinated.
Wells Fargo to pay more than $22M for retaliating against exec
- OSHA found Wells Fargo violated the whistleblower protection provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for improperly terminating a Chicago area-based senior manager in the company’s commercial banking segment.
- The California-based bank was ordered to pay the employee more than $22 million which includes back wages, interest, lost bonuses and benefits, front pay and compensatory damages.
- The findings follow an investigation by OSHA’s Chicago Regional Office that was initiated after receiving a complaint from the employee.
- OSHA found Wells Fargo violated the Sarbanes–Oxley Act when it fired a senior manager who voiced concerns to area managers and the corporate ethics line regarding conduct they believed violated relevant financial laws.
HHS likely to renew public health emergency
- The U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra is expected to issue an extension for the COVID-19 public health emergency declaration that is scheduled to expire at the end of October.
- HHS has previously indicated that when a decision is made to terminate the declaration or let it expire, the agency will provide 60 days’ notice prior to termination.
- During the COVID-19 Pandemic, through California Medical Association (CMA) advocacy, both public and private health plans expanded their coverage and reimbursement for services provided via telehealth.
- As long as the nation continues to be in a public health emergency, all of these policies remain in effect.
Worker killed at New Orleans airport
- A woman was killed while working at the New Orleans International Airport.
- Jermani Thompson died after her hair was caught in the machinery of a belt loader while unloading baggage for a Frontier Airlines flight.
- No incidents have been reported involving the GAT Airline Support at MSY in the past 10 years, according to OSHA.
- GAT Ground Airline Support is the company that provides services to airlines at MSY, such as ground and cargo handling, and the incident is still under investigation.