OSHA Issues Revised COVID-19 Guidance for Workplaces

Matthew Thomas Deffebach | Haynes & Boone

Matthew Deffebach is a partner in the firm’s Houston and Orange County offices, and Matt is the chair of the firm’s OSHA and Workplace Disasters Practice Group. He assists clients in numerous industries and uses what he has learned with his trial and overall experience to help clients understand how to utilize preventative measures to minimize claims and reduce exposure to litigation. Matt is board certified in labor and employment law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and is recognized in Chambers USA, Chambers and Partners, for labor and employment in Texas. As an employment litigator, he has successfully handled hundreds of agency proceedings, arbitrations, and lawsuits in state and federal court concerning ERISA, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, leave and accommodation issues, ADA public access, wage, and hour (including FLSA collective actions), executive compensation, wrongful termination, privacy matters, social media, and others. He also counsels’ clients on these areas and other aspects of employment law and is frequently enlisted to conduct workplace investigations based on employee complaints of misconduct. He is a frequent speaker, having conducted numerous trainings for clients on employment law compliance and appearing at dozens of seminars and conferences. Matt was previously the chair of the firm’s Labor and Employment Practice Group. As an OSHA litigator, he has appeared in more than 30 states handling OSHA matters and is entering his 16th year as National OSHA counsel for The Home Depot. He is familiar with the state OSHA programs, particularly with California where he has handled numerous contested cases involving Cal/OSHA. Matt has also successfully defended clients in OSHA administrative trials, including recent trials on PPE in California, Powered Industrial Trucks in Utah, Recordkeeping in Iowa, and other regulatory matters in four separate trials in California.

As a general commercial litigator, Matt has handled contract disputes and a number of non-subscriber negligence lawsuits/arbitrations. He also routinely assists on misappropriation of trade secret matters and unfair competition claims regarding non-competition and non-solicitation agreements. Matt was previously a co-chair of the firm’s Litigation Department.

Mini Kapoor, Ph.D. | Haynes & Boone

Mini Kapoor has wide-ranging litigation experience in commercial, labor and employment, and intellectual property matters. Her commercial litigation experience includes toxic torts, environmental, energy, and product and premises liability matters. Her labor and employment experience includes handling OSHA matters in multiple states, and breach of employment agreements. Mini’s intellectual property experience includes patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets litigation matters. As an OSHA litigator, Mini has appeared in several states handling OSHA matters, including in Texas, California, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa and Michigan. Mini has experience with both federal and State OSHA programs. Mini has also successfully defended clients in OSHA administrative trials including recent matters involving PPE, powered industrial trucks, injury reporting, document production, machine guarding and accident-related matters. A registered lawyer at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Mini has a Ph.D. in Biochemistry. Prior to her legal career, she was a faculty member at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, where she received federally funded grants to conduct research in cancer genetics. Mini has served on federal grant review panels for the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute. She has also served as a reviewer on technology grants at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and the University of Houston. Mini is a prolific writer who has published on both legal and scientific topics. Among other notable journals, her articles have appeared in the Houston Law Review and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Mini has presented on multiple OSHA and intellectual property topics to inventor and entrepreneur societies as well as retail industry groups. She has presented at the Texas Life Science Forum and the State Bar of Texas Patent and Trademarks Workshop. On behalf of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, she organized and hosted the Houston World Intellectual Property Day in April 2017 which featured Sarah Harris, the General Counsel of the USPTO, as the keynote speaker. The World Intellectual Property Day focuses on creating awareness regarding protecting intellectual property and related issues.

Mini has frequently presented to diverse student organizations at the University of Houston and represented the firm at the Georgetown Law School Diversity Gala. She is an active member of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, a national diversity organization.

I. OSHA trends under the Biden Administration | 2:00-2:15
II. Revised COVID-19 guidance | 2:15-2:30
III. Potential Federal COVID-19 ETS | 2:30-2:45
IV. Preparing workplaces for minimizing liability | 2:45-3:00