By Rogers Stevens, Associate, Pepper Hamilton LLP Q: An employee in my company has requested intermittent leave as an accommodation for what he claims is a debilitating “anxiety,” but he has no job performance issues and seems fine to me. Are we required to provide a reasonable accommodation under the ADA for anxiety? A: The question of whether an employee’s anxiety constitutes a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) is rather tricky for employers. Most people experience some level...

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Broadly speaking, artificial intelligence (AI) is the term given to the ability of computer software to simulate human cognition, allowing machine systems to learn, reason, and interact. Over time, algorithmic software can be “trained” to make connections – from random inputs to revealing outputs – which allow it to “learn”, and “make” decisions. This decision-making process, when conducted without any human involvement, is known as automated decision making (ADM). Common examples of ADM are: An autonomous vehicle stopping so it doesn’t...

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In most states for certain claims, the statute of limitations is tempered by the "discovery rule," under which the limitations period does not start until the claimant knew or should have known of its claim against the wrongdoer. Although some types of claims may not get the benefit of this rule—such as claims for defamation—the statute of limitations governing claims for misappropriation of trade secrets is generally tempered by the discovery rule. Thus, an injured party that does not...

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ING Groep N.V. notes the announcements made today by the European Banking Authority and the European Central Bank (ECB) regarding the information of the 2019 EU-wide Transparency Exercise and fulfillment of the EBA Board of Supervisors’ decision. Background 2019 EU-wide Transparency Exercise At its meeting in April 2019, the EBA Board of Supervisors approved the package for the 2019 EU-wide Transparency Exercise, which since 2016 is performed on an annual basis and published along with the Risk Assessment Report (RAR). The annual...

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On November 26, 2019, the U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”) announced that 32 additional product descriptions will be excluded from the Section 301 trade remedies imposed on Chinese-origin products. The newly announced exclusions all relate to items on China 301 List 3 (the $200 billion trade action) which, unless excluded, are subject to an additional tariff of 25% ad valorem. The list of newly-excluded items (which supplements the exclusions previously granted by the USTR) is provided below. The exclusions will...

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