Pandemic Hits Restaurant-Heavy Regions Hard

Here are the day’s top coronavirus stories from the team at Bloomberg Law:

• HARD HIT INDUSTRY: Job uncertainty is rattling bartenders and wait staff in areas large and small across the country, especially in modestly sized communities where they make up an outsized portion of the workforce.
• RAIDING RETIREMENT: Retirement account holders who previously wanted early access to their accounts had to reside in a geographic area impacted by a natural disaster, or face an “immediate and heavy financial need” typically associated with medical bills, housing costs, or funeral expenses. Now, they can withdraw $100,000 with few restrictions thanks to the bipartisan relief package signed into law last week.
• CHAPTER 11: Troubled companies behind on their bills or already in bankruptcy may be out of luck when it comes to getting federal funds from the relief package. Current law blocks the government from making loans to companies that have either filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy or fail an insolvency test, according to lawyers who’ve studied the new legislation.

Editor’s Top Picks

3D Printing Ingenuity During Coronavirus Comes With IP Risks
Innovators and volunteers are rallying to 3D printing, but with this ingenuity comes concerns about patent infringement and product safety.

H-1B Worker Pay Options During Pandemic Limited by Visa Rules
Companies across the U.S. are facing tough decisions as they pare down business and workers, and those that employ high-skilled guestworkers face even fewer options if they want to keep those employees.

Opportunity Zone Investors Want Covid-19 Deadline Certainty
Investors seeking a set of capital gains tax breaks want the IRS and Treasury Department to extend key deadlines for the incentives as the pandemic slows down their developments.

Racing to Zero: Social Distancing Crushes Retail, Hotels, Dining
Restaurants aren’t the only industry being hard hit by social distancing measures. Retail and hospitality are also feeling the belt tighten, new data show. Department stores and clothing boutiques are telling shoppers to go online and hotels are trying to survive with empty rooms.

Essential and Exposed: Anxiety Spreads Among UPS, FedEx Drivers
Parcel workers have begun adding their voice to a rising chorus of protests from some workers on the economy’s frontlines who believe they’re not getting adequate support or compensation for the extra workload and risks they’re being asked to shoulder.

Big Business Covid-19 Paid Leave Exemption May Get Another Look
The debate over who has to pay for new sick and family leave for workers is being revived as lawmakers and the Trump administration prepare to hash out the next phase of pandemic-relief legislation.

American Airlines Reverses Itself on Pilot Coronavirus Leave
American Airlines isn’t immediately offering paid leaves of absence and long-term unpaid leave to many of its pilots, reversing itself on an earlier call for volunteers made after the airline agreed with its union to provide the leave as a response to the crisis.

EPA Cracking Down on Misbranded Coronavirus Treatment Product
The EPA is stepping up enforcement against products making unproven antiviral or disinfectant claims after it recently blocked a shipment of allegedly antimicrobial plastic cards from Japan and Hong Kong from entering U.S. ports in Honolulu and Guam.

Private Equity Frets That It’s a Loser in $2 Trillion Virus Bill
Private equity firms are working the phones in Washington to fix what they consider a major flaw in the rescue bill: they fear that companies they own are largely ineligible for the billions of dollars in small business loans the U.S. is doling out to save the economy.

Virus Outbreak Could Send Health Premiums Soaring, Analysts Say
The crisis could result in higher health insurance premiums in 2021, but insurers’ profits may not take a hit, health-care industry stock market analysts say.

INSIGHT: What Law Firm Leaders Can Learn From Cuomo’s Pandemic Actions
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s actions offer leadership lessons on taking ownership of responsibility, crystal clear communication, basing actions on statements of fact, and personal empathy, writes Deborah B. Farone, founder of Farone Advisors LLC.

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Editor’s Note: The Bloomberg Law news team has been closely covering the legal, regulatory, business, and tax implications of the coronavirus pandemic. This daily email highlights the top stories of the day, across practice areas.