The final Supreme Court opinion of the term held that forcing closely held, for-profit corporations to pay for contraception is a violation of their sincerely held religious beliefs and is illegal under federal law under Hobby Lobby v. Sebelius.
Blog
How Celebrities Keep Their Addresses Private
A couple of weeks ago, Richard Sherman of the Seattle Seahawks made the news not for what he did on the field, but what he purchased off as the Seattle Times reported on his recent home purchase. But what if you don’t want nosy folks to know what property you just purchased and how much you paid for it? Fortunately, there is a relatively easy solution.
New Washington Law Extends Rights for Religious Practices
Governor Jay Inslee has signed in to law a bill that assures state employees (and public school students) two days off per calendar years for religious holiday. Our business clients, particularly those with heavy weekend and holiday need, may wish to anticipate similar requests being made to them as well for unpaid holidays as a “reasonable accommodation” for religious practices.
Seattle Minimum Wage Update
Lauren Parris Watts reviewed the implementation of the newly passed Seattle $15 Minimum Wage Ordinance at the latest Helsell Fetterman Employment Law Breakfast on June 3. We promised to keep out attendees informed about ongoing developments on this issue. The following is a quick rundown of the known challenges to the Ordinance.
Washington Redskins Lose Federal Registrations: How Can They Protect Their Trademark Rights?
The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) announced today its decision to cancel six federal trademark registrations owned by Pro Football, Inc. (The Washington Redskins), ruling that the term “Redskins” was disparaging of Native Americans, when used in relation to professional football services, at the time the various registrations were issued
Should I Register My Trademark?
Business owners often ask me if they should “trademark” the name of their business. The good news for many of them is that they already have a trademark. There is no such thing as “trademarking” your company’s name. When you choose a name under which you will provide a particular good or service, you are adopting a trademark. In the U.S., you obtain rights in that trademark by using the mark in commerce in connection with the sale of goods or services. You do not have to register your trademark to have rights in it.
What the New Generic Top-Level Domains Mean for Your Brand
At the beginning of this year, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the entity that manages the Internet’s global domain name system, began releasing new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) such as .restaurant, .news, .computer, and .coffee. As many as 700 new publicly available gTLDs will roll out through 2015.
Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD) Extends Employer Liability for Religious Discrimination
The Washington State Supreme Court today announced its decision that Washington employers with 8 or more employees can be sued under the Washington Law Against Discrimination (RCW 49.060.120) for failing to offer reasonable accommodations to their employees religious beliefs, Kumar v. Gate Gourmet, Inc.
Supreme Court Approves the Practice of Prayer Leaders Opening Town Meetings
Today the very sharply divided US Supreme Court approved a small town’s practice of inviting ministers and other faith leaders to provide opening prayers prior to beginning a town meeting, even though the prayer leaders were overwhelmingly Christian (four non Christians led prayer over a period of nine years). The 5-4 decision found the prayers […]
Volunteers for Profit?
U.S District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed Chen v. Major League Baseball, a class action asserting wage rights for volunteers at the MLB All Star Fan Fest.