Robert J. O’Hara, Member of the Firm in the Employment, Labor & Workforce Management practice, in the firm’s New York office, was quoted in Reuters, in “Vaccine Rule Highlights Workplace Safety Lawyers' COVID-19 Era Rise,” by Sara Merken and Xiumei Dong.
Following is an excerpt:
The Biden administration's recently unveiled COVID-19 vaccine rule for companies is keeping workplace safety lawyers' phones ringing, the latest sign the pandemic has raised the profiles of these often less visible members of the employment bar.
Attorneys who help companies deal with the Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which is set to enforce the rule, say that their workloads have spiked since OSHA released the emergency temporary standard (ETS) on Nov. 4. …
Robert O'Hara, an employment lawyer at Epstein Becker Green, was not originally hired by the firm to handle workplace health and safety but said he spent almost 100% of his practice on these matters for the first year of the pandemic. He said the firm has formed an OSHA-specific group of four lawyers in response to COVID-19.
Workplace safety lawyers have also become key members of broader cross-practice coronavirus teams that many law firms formed last year to help clients trying to navigate an unprecedented crisis. …
