Recently, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced it is allowing U.S. employers to require all employees that are physically at the office to be vaccinated against Covid-19. There are some limitations. For example, employers must provide reasonable accommodations to employees, who because of disabilities or religious beliefs, will not get vaccinated. These employees may be […]
The Cornerstone Café, a Monticello cafe, made the decision to remain open for indoor dining over the last couple of months, despite Governor Walz’s November 18 order prohibiting it. The cafe was one of several Minnesota restaurants and bars that refused to comply with the order. The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office has been in charge […]
When the COVID-19 pandemic forced the Mall of America to close in March 2020, the mall, and its tenants, were faced with unfortunate financial difficulties. In April, the mall missed the first of many payments on its $1.4 billion mortgage. Despite the initial grace period following the first missed payment, the Mall of America continued […]
Bachman’s Inc., a Minneapolis-based floral and garden center chain, filed suit against its insurance company in Hennepin County District Court this week for lost revenue during the pandemic and government-mandated shutdown.According to the complaint, Bachman’s purchased an insurance policy that would cover business interruption losses—including losses due to a pandemic—and the insurance provider hasn’t paid […]
The U.S. Small Business Administration will have to release detailed information about the Paycheck Protection Program Loans by November 19, according to a federal judge’s ruling on Thursday, November 5. United States District Court Judge James E. Boasberg ruled that the SBA will have to release the names, addresses and precise loan amounts of all […]
The Busted Nut Bar & Grill in downtown Hastings has been charged with a $7,000 fine by the Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The citation, which states that the restaurant failed to take COVID-19 related precautions, was issued after two inspectors visited the establishment. Although the citation does not state with specificity where the […]
This week Governor Walz laid out, perhaps for the first time since issuing the peacetime emergency order, his desired benchmarks for ending the COVID-19 peacetime emergency and business restrictions in Minnesota. The peacetime emergency order has now been in place for around six months.Walz said that he hopes to see declines in positive tests for […]
The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), one of the most important elements of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act, is an initiative that makes loans available to small businesses, which may be forgivable if business owners keep their employees on the payroll. It’s effectively a lifeline in which the federal government will indirectly pay these workers’ salaries […]
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, landlords have increasingly received communication from tenants requesting rent relief and, in some circumstances, lease termination. While there has been discussion to suspend the ability to evict commercial tenants, such restrictions have been generally limited to residential leases to date.Continuous Operation CovenantsMany leases have continuous operation covenants that tenants must […]
With the outbreak of COVID-19, companies across various industries are taking precautions, some of which inevitably will result in nonperformance of their contracts. For some, relief from nonperformance may be found in the contracts themselves in the form of a force majeure provision. For others, whose contracts do not contain force majeure provisions, defending a […]