News

HesseMartone President and CEO Andy Martone published an article titled “Employment Law in the Time of Pandemic”.

Click here to read the full article.

Jazz St. Louis  welcomed trumpeter and bandleader Etienne Charles the first week of March 2020. Still in his twenties, Charles entered groundbreaking new territory in his latest album, Creole Soul. 

Over a four night performance on the evenings of March 4th through March 8th, Charles graced the stage with a fusion of Afro-Caribbean, calypso, Haitian voodoo, rock steady, reggae, belair, kongo and rock, Motown, and R&B. “Jazz is Creole music,” says Charles, “ I come from a fusion of rhythms, a fusion of cultures. That’s what this album is all about: focusing on soul music that is Creole at heart.”

HesseMartone, P.C. co-sponsored the event through Jazz St. Louis. Located at 3536 Washington Ave., Jazz St. Louis is a  not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to lead our community in advancing the uniquely American art of jazz through live performance, education, and community engagement.

HesseMartone is pleased to announce that Josephine Abshier has been named a Principal with the firm. Abshier is an experienced trial attorney who focuses her practice on complex business disputes. She also regularly counsels clients on enforcing contractual rights and litigation prevention. 

Congratulations Josie!

The HesseMartone team and their Springfield Managing Principal, Rick Stewart, are pleased to announce that Rick’s son, Jackson, has passed his Eagle Board of Review. He is Troop 31’s 70th Eagle Scout, joining his father and continuing their family tradition.

Eagle Scout is the highest rank available in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America and only 4% of all scouts earn this rank.

Congratulations Jackson (and to your proud father).

The St. Louis Business Journal has quoted Andy in its article on “Smart Strategies for Growing Your Business Locally”.

The article can be found here.

HesseMartone is proud to support the 2020 SIOSH/SafetyCon conference as a Gold Level Sponsor. The event brings together construction and industry experts to highlight best practices for safe workplaces.

The conference will feature a keynote talk from Super Bowl Champion and NFL Hall of Famer, Aneas Williams.  Held at the Southern Illinois University campus, there will be 12 break out sessions and an awards presentation for Contributions in Health & Safety for General Industry & Construction.

SIOSH/SAFETYCON
January 27, 2020
7:30am to 4:00pm
Morris University Center / Meridian Ballroom

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Visit https://www.imec.org/event/sioshsafetycon_012720 for more event details and registration.

HesseMartone supported the annual Shooting Event held by The Southern Illinois Builders Association (SIBA), Associated General Contractors (AGC) of Illinois, and Egyptian Contractors Association . Four-man teams competed in a sporting clay competition at the World Shooting Complex in Sparta, Illinois.  HesseMartone and other firms sponsored the cash prizes and gift cards awarded to the winners of the 151 shooters who participated in the event.

Southern & Central Illinois was the First Place Team winner with a score of 352 points.

HesseMartone will be offering a new Sexual Harassment training on Tuesday, January 21, 2020. Sponsored by the Southern Illinois Builders Association and Southern Illinois Construction Advancement Program, this certificate program will cover the new Illinois legislation effective January 1, 2020 and July 1, 2020.

This certificate program will be in compliance with the new training standards, which includes an interactive training component, specific content requirements, and an updated reporting process to the Illinois Department of Human Rights.

Tuesday, January 21, 2020 9:00 a.m.
SIBA Office
1468 Green Mount Road O’Fallon, IL

For more information about the program, see the flyer below.

The Illinois Human Rights Act has been amended with new requirements going into effect on January 1, 2020 and July 1, 2020. These requirements include new guidelines for sexual harassment prevention training and reporting to the Illinois Department of Human Rights.

Andy Martone and Morgan Taylor of HesseMartone outline these new requirements in their article “Sexual Harassment Training- It’s the Law”.

It was distributed in the Friday Facts newsletter on January 10, 2020 which is published by the Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association (IRTBA).

Read the article on page 3 of the newsletter below.

The Illinois Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (“Cannabis Act”) protects an employer who acts reasonably based on a “good faith belief” than an employee was “impaired by or under the influence of cannabis”.

This makes it important to define and explain “impairment” and being “under the influence”.

The Cannabis Act itself provides some help, requiring that the employer be able to demonstrate:

1. Specific, articulable (describable) symptoms;
2. While working (or on call);
3. That decrease or lessen;
4. The employee’s performance of the duties or tasks;
5. Of the employee’s job position.

Each of these components must be present in order to trigger the protection of the statute.

The Cannabis Act specifically addresses the meaning of “symptoms”, indicating that they include symptoms relating to the employee’s : 1) speech; 2) physical dexterity; 3) agility; 4) coordination; 5) demeanor; 6) irrational or unusual behavior; 7) negligence or carelessness in operating equipment or machinery; 8) disregard for the safety of the employee or others; 9) involvement in any accident that results in serious damage to equipment or property; 10) disruption of a production or manufacturing process;and 11) carelessness that results in any injury to the employee or to others.

This laundry list describes potential symptoms of impairment/being under the influence.

These symptoms do not provide definitive proof.

For that, the employer probably needs a positive test result — which means that “impairment” may really mean “demonstrating one or more of the symptoms of being impaired by cannabis and testing positive for the presence of cannabis in the employee’s system at the time the symptom is demonstrated”. While it may be possible to act without the confirmation of a positive test result, it is risky to do so because the law also provides that the employee must be given “a reasonable opportunity to contest the basis of the determination”.

What’s an employer to do?

Adopt a policy or modify an existing policy to track the requirements of the statute with regards to symptoms of impairment. When necessary, negotiate the changes with any applicable labor organization;

Provide supervisor training in recognizing, corroborating and documenting the existence of the symptoms of impairment;

Create a system of documentation/checklists that makes it easy and effective to do so;

Preserve any objective evidence of impairment that exists.

This article is the second in a 5-part series on “An Employer’s Guide to Illinois Cannabis Regulation”.