By now, employers likely have heard the news that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reduced the length of time that individuals should quarantine after an exposure to COVID-19. The old adage “Don’t believe everything you read” turns out to be true in this case. Although the CDC has stated that shortened

Patricia Anderson Pryor
Patricia Anderson Pryor is a Principal and Litigation Manager of the Cincinnati, Ohio, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. She is an experienced litigator in both state and federal courts, representing and defending employers in nearly every form of employment litigation, including class actions.
Ms. Pryor represents and advises employers in federal and state administrative proceedings, in all forms of dispute resolution, including mediation and arbitration, and in managing all aspects of the employment relationship. She has represented employers before the EEOC, the DOL, the DOJ, the OFCCP, and the NLRB, in addition to various state agencies.
Ms. Pryor also works with employers to avoid litigation by developing effective policies and practices, including harassment policies, social media policies, FMLA practices, attendance programs, affirmative action programs and wellness plans. She conducts proactive wage and hour audits, harassment investigations and compensation/pay equity reviews.
She is a frequent speaker at legal seminars and to employers and professional groups and provides training to managers and human resource professionals on a wide variety of employment and legal issues, including wage and hour issues, harassment, disability, the Family and Medical Leave Act, pay equity and affirmative action obligations. She has been featured on the radio program “Employment Straight Talk” and has published a number of employment law articles.
While attending law school, Ms. Pryor was a member of the editorial board of the University of Cincinnati Law Review.
Learn more about Ms. Pryor on the Jackson Lewis website.
To Vaccinate Or Not To Vaccinate… That Is The Question
As we enter flu season (in the midst of a national spike in COVID-19 cases), and it now appears that a COVID-19 vaccine is on the horizon, employers are struggling with whether they should require employees to be vaccinated for seasonal influenza and/or COVID-19 infection. After the year that many have had, there is a…
Close Encounters of the (Cumulative) 15 Minute Kind
Just when you thought you had your contact tracing protocol down for dealing with COVID-19 exposures, CDC guidance has changed again.
The CDC has now expanded the definition of close contact to be “Someone who was within 6 feet of an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour…
DOL Strikes Back: Redefines Health Care Provider Exception to FFCRA
Last month a New York federal court left health care providers in a lurch, when it vacated the Department of Labor’s definition of who could be exempted as a health care provider from the FFCRA leave obligations. Thankfully, the DOL has stepped back in to provide further clarity on this issue, providing revisions and clarifications…
New York District Court Vacates Parts of FFCRA Regulations Including Healthcare Provider Definition
Shortly after the Department of Labor issued its FFCRA regulations, the state of New York filed a lawsuit challenging some of the provisions. Today (four months after the regulations went into effect, and just five months before the FFCRA is set to expire), the federal district court in New York struck down four provisions in…
Extended School Closings Create Homework for Employers
You can hear the parents wailing across the country (almost like kindergartners on their first day of school), as states begin to announce their plans to keep physical schools closed or alternate between in-school and virtual classes for the upcoming year. The collective parent wail is outmatched only by that of their employers, who are…
Summer Break Does Not Necessarily Mean A Break From FFCRA Leave Requirements
Its July. A time when in normal years, schools are closed and families are planning vacations. But in 2020, paid vacation is being replaced with paid leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”), leaving employers asking, can they still do that?!
For public employers and employers with less than 500 employees, the FFCRA…
EEOC Opines on COVID-19 Testing by Employers
In the past few weeks, the EEOC has updated its What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws on multiple occasions. The EEOC’s most recent update to this informal guidance provides an answer to the following question: “May an employer administer a COVID-19 test (a test…
EEOC Answers Key Questions for Employers, Including Whether Employers Can Identify an Employee Diagnosed With COVID-19 to a Public Health Agency
Employers have been struggling with exactly what information they are permitted to disclose to a public health agency when an employee is diagnosed with COVID-19. The EEOC yesterday for the first time advised that, at least under the Americans with Disabilities Act, employers may disclose the employee’s name to the public health agency. However, employers…
DOL’s FAQs Provide More Details About Small Employer Exception Under FFCRA
The Department of Labor has been hard at work issuing FAQs to try to explain the provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act before it goes into effect on April 1, 2020. To see earlier reports on these FAQs, see our blog posts on March 24th, March 27th and March 28th.
The latest…