Investigating Employee Harassment Claims in the Workplace
In the wake of the #MeToo Movement and as again recently seen in media headlines, sexual harassment continues to be a prevalent problem in today’s culture, and no employer is immune from the duty to prevent and resolve harassment claims in the workplace. These claims include not only sexual…
Tax Reporting for Grantor Trusts
November 6, 2017
by Jennifer R. Pierce
Typically, a trust must file a separate income tax return for each calendar year. However, for most grantor trusts, filing a separate tax return is optional. The general rule and the alternative methods of reporting are described below. When a trust is a “grantor trust” for income tax purposes…
Certain Trust Expenses Still Deductible Until 2026
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), while lowering taxes for most, raised them for a few. One group of those few taxpayers for whom taxes went up under TCJA were certain trusts and estates (generally those with large investment advisory fees or certain other expenses). The issue for these trusts is…
Arkansas Environmental Personnel Moves: Governor-Elect Sanders Names Mr. Shane Khoury Secretary of Arkansas Department of Energy & Environment
December 22, 2022
by Walter G. Wright, Jr.
Governor-Elect Sanders announced that she will nominate Mr. Shane Khoury to be Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Energy & Environment. Shane currently serves as Chief Counsel to the Arkansas Department of Energy & Environment. Governor-Elect Sanders is quoted as stating in part: Shane’s…
Arkansas Environmental Service Firms: Alliance Technical Group Acquires GBMc & Associates
Alliance Technical Group, LLC, (“ATG”) issued a December 6th news release stating that it had acquired GBMc & Associates (“GBMc”). ATG states that the acquisition was backed by investment funds managed by Morgan Stanley Capital Partners. GBMc is a Bryant, Arkansas based environmental service firm…
Non-Compete Agreements: What is a Reasonable Duration for a Restriction?
It depends. The first question to ask is when was this non-compete agreement signed? In Arkansas, the watershed date is July 22, 2015, which is when a landmark non-compete statute came into play. For non-competes signed after July 21, 2015, two years is statutorily presumed to be a reasonable…
Addressing PFAS Discharges in NPDES Permits/Pretreatment and Monitoring Programs: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Issues December 5th Guidance
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued a December 5th memorandum titled: Addressing PFAS Discharges in NPDES Permits and Through the Pretreatment Program and Monitoring Programs (“Memorandum”) The Memorandum is transmitted from EPA Assistant Administrator for Water…
94th Arkansas General Assembly/NPDES Permits: Property/Homeowner Associations Exemptions
Representatives Lanny Fite and Richard McGrew have pre-filed House Bill 1015 which would amend Arkansas Code § 8-4-203(b)(1)(C). This statutory provision provides certain exemptions from the Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”) or state permits for nonmunicipal…
A Twitter WARNing
December 5, 2022
by Hannah E. Butler
After Elon Musk took ownership of Twitter, the company laid off over 900 California employees. As news spread that Twitter plans to eliminate 50% of its workforce, employees filed a class-action lawsuit against the company alleging that the reduction in force violated the Worker Adjustment and…
Air Enforcement: Arkansas Department of Energy & Environment - Division of Environmental Quality and Mississippi County Steel Mill Enter into Consent Administrative Order
December 15, 2022
by Walter G. Wright, Jr.
The Arkansas Department of Energy & Environment – Division of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) and Nucor Corporation (“Nucor”) entered into a November 28th Consent Administrative Order (“CAO”). See LIS No. 22-114. The CAO provides that Nucor owns and operates a steel mill (“Steel Mill”) in Mississippi…