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Tracey O'Brien

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Tracey focuses on assisting federal contractors, including healthcare, life sciences and education clients, in compliance with employment laws and regulations.

She co-leads the firm's OFCCP and affirmative action compliance team, which uses data analytics to assess federal contractors’ employment and personnel processes and compensation systems for compliance with OFCCP regulations. She strategically designs and prepares written affirmative action plans using a bifurcated approach that provides clients with additional confidential analyses and narratives protected by the attorney-client privilege. She further assists clients with other OFCCP obligations, including implementation of outreach and recruitment efforts in conjunction with placement goals, applicant tracking issues, review of job descriptions, and other support and guidance to ensure compliance and minimize the risk of the liability in the event of an audit.

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Healthcare Providers

On March 23, 2022, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published a notice in the federal register announcing a limited re-opening of the comment period regarding OSHA’s final standard to protect healthcare and healthcare support service workers from occupational exposure to COVID-19. The comment period will end on April 22, 2022, and the virtual public hearing will be held on April 27, 2022. The Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) for Occupational Exposure to COVID-19 for  healthcare and healthcare support service workers (OSHA Healthcare ETS) was originally published on June 21, 2021. OSHA has re-opened the comment period to allow stakeholders to address changes the agency is considering that depart from the June 2021 version of the OSHA Healthcare ETS.

Team of healthcare workers

Throughout the COVID pandemic, healthcare employers have navigated the challenge of balancing safety concerns with employee requests for religious exemption from the vaccine.  Since lifting the stay of the CMS rule requiring certain healthcare workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, the US Supreme Court (Court) has refused to enjoin state and city vaccine mandates for workers who seek religious exemptions from such mandates. On March 7, 2022, the full Court rejected, without comment, an emergency application for an injunction that was previously denied by Justice Sotomayor to prevent enforcement of the New York City Department of Education’s COVID-19 mandate against suspended workers who refused vaccination based on religion.  In the wake of continued challenges to vaccine mandates based on religion, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”), released guidance on March  1, 2022 that addresses questions related to religious objections to vaccinations in the workplace. Healthcare employers should ensure that assessment of requests for religious exemptions for vaccine mandates comports with EEOC guidance.

Covid Vaccine Alert

For many healthcare employers, phase one and phase two COVID-19 vaccine deadlines are either here or quickly approaching. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), in an exercise of enforcement discretion, has begun monitoring covered CMS provider and supplier types for implementation of COVID-19 staff vaccination requirements in accordance with the COVID-19 Healthcare Staff Vaccination…

No surprises legal alert

On February 23, 2022, Judge Jeremy Kernodle of the Eastern District of Texas ruled that certain parts of the Interim Final Rule Part II (the Rule) implementing the No Surprises Act are invalid. Specifically, the provisions of the Rule governing the methodology for how arbitrators determine the amount of payments insurers and self-funded health plans…

SCOTUS CMS Vaccine Arguments

On Friday, January 07, 2022, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on a rule promulgated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The Rule is being challenged by numerous states and CMS is currently enjoined from enforcing the Rule in half the country. The government petitioned the Supreme Court to stay the injunctions in…