Phantom Companies Got More Than $1 Billion in Virus Aid

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

• PHANTOM COMPANIES: A federal program meant to help small businesses hurt by the pandemic may have sent more than $1 billion to places it shouldn’t have gone, according to an analysis of Small Business Administration data.
• IDLED REFINERIES: As Hurricane Laura barrels toward Southeast Texas, idled refineries and an ongoing global pandemic are looming concerns for companies and communities in the area. Rock Owens, managing attorney for Harris County’s environmental practice group, told Bloomberg Law that he’s concerned companies aren’t prepared for extreme weather as many plants, idled due to the pandemic, run on skeleton crews.
• SLOWING DEAL VOLUME: Health-care transactions lagged in July due to headwinds from Covid-19, but year-to-date deals are well ahead of the same period last year, attorneys and analysts say.

Editor’s Top Picks

Covid-Leave Retaliation Suit by Florida Worker Can Go Forward
A Florida residential and commercial cleaning company must face a former employee’s claims that she was fired for seeking paid leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act when her kids’ school was closed in the wake of the outbreak, the Middle District of Florida ruled.

Loeb & Loeb Latest Law Firm to Roll Back Pandemic Salary Cuts
Loeb & Loeb is partially reversing coronavirus-related salary reductions the law firm implemented in April, according to a memo from chair Kenneth Florin.

Covid Testing Required for All Nursing Home Staff or Fines Ensue
All nursing homes must test their staff for Covid-19 regularly to detect exposure to the virus under new requirements CMS announced Tuesday.

IRS Hiring 5,000 Workers to Field Questions on Virus Payments
The IRS plans to hire about 5,000 new seasonal employees through January to work through a backlog of inquiries about the $1,200 virus relief checks the agency was tasked with issuing this spring.

White House Weighs Airline Job Support in Case Stimulus Fails
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said the Trump administration is examining executive actions to help airlines avoid employee furloughs if Congress doesn’t provide assistance in a new round of stimulus.

Virus Testing Push Leaves FDA Lab Oversight in ‘a Bizarre Limbo’
More tests to screen for a variety of ailments will hit the market without FDA oversight under an HHS policy meant to make more Covid-19 tests available, muddying the debate over the agency’s role.

Appeals Court Shreds Order Releasing Prisoners Due to Pandemic
A district court’s decision releasing 22 immigration detainees, after they claimed health-care concerns over Covid-19 in their facilities, was fraught with procedural and substantive due process errors and must be vacated, the Third Circuit said.

INSIGHT: Small Employers Face Pandemic-Induced 401(k) Plan Challenges
Congress passed legislation in March that allowed employees to access retirement funds to mitigate the financial impact of Covid-19. Dan Morgan of Blank Rome was among the first to call attention to the planning and operational concerns for employers facing furloughs and layoffs. In this follow-up article, the author outlines 401(k) challenges still facing small employers, and concludes that any broad-based solution must come from Congress.

Click here for updates on how federal courts are operating during the pandemic.

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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. To unsubscribe, please adjust your Bloomberg Law newsletter settings. For assistance, contact our help desk at 888-560-2529 or help@bloomberglaw.com.