We believe in helping our communities beyond the confines of the courtroom.
Morgan & Morgan Hunger Relief Center Dedication
On March 6, 2013, Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida’s fight to end hunger took a major step forward with the dedication of the Morgan & Morgan, P.A. Hunger Relief Center. The new, 100,000-square foot facility—more than double the size of its predecessor—is equipped to handle millions of pounds of food the organization had to previously turn away due to a lack of adequate coolers, freezers, and general infrastructure space.
“This is one of the best things we’ve ever done,” Mr. Morgan said of he and his wife Ultima’s generous $2 million donation to the cause. “Other than the four children, this is one of the best things we’ve ever done.”
By the organization’s estimates, the value of the food stored in the Morgan & Morgan, P.A. Hunger Relief Center over the next 20 years will exceed $1.4 billion.
The Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida is a private, nonprofit organization spearheading the fight to end hunger by collecting and distributing food to more than 500 nonprofit partner agencies throughout Brevard, Orange, Lake, Seminole, Osceola, and Volusia counties in Central Florida. In addition to gathering and distributing food to those in need, Second Harvest Food Bank strives to raise public awareness on the “invisible problem” of hunger and poverty, as well as develop county-specific solutions to hunger in Central Florida.
If you would like to get involved with or donate to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, please visit their website.
Morgan & Morgan is committed to helping out those students looking to get into law as a career. To help out, we formed the For The People Scholarship. Through this scholarship, we've already helped pay for law school for a first-year law student who was committed to making his or her community a better place.
John Morgan places a big emphasis on giving back to the community, and has built the firm to reflect his values of charity and public service. Many of our firm’s partners holds at least one leadership position in a charitable organization, for example.
We seek to inspire these values of charity and public service beyond our firm, and encourage aspiring lawyers to approach their careers as our attorneys already do.
In 2013, John Morgan partnered with United for Care in campaigning to legalize medical marijuana on behalf of sick and suffering Floridians. It took nearly four years, two elections, and cost John millions of dollars, but medical marijuana was finally legalized in 2016.
John’s support for medical marijuana is personal; it helped relieve the pain of his father, who had emphysema and esophageal cancer, and his brother, who is paraplegic. Another reason he supports medical marijuana is because of the damage he’s seen caused by the powerful prescription pain medications his clients are often given by a doctor following an injury.
The initial campaign began by writing an initiative and hiring an “army of angels” to collect the nearly 700,000 signatures required to get it on the 2014 ballot. While collecting signatures proved challenging, the initiative eventually qualified for the ballot but faced a consistent and well funded opposition throughout the campaign. In the end, 58 percent of voters were in favor of the initiative, but it required at least 60 percent to pass.
Undeterred, and further inspired by Floridians who urged him to try again, John launched another campaign to legalize medical marijuana. The second time around Florida had no doubts about medical marijuana and the initiative passed with a resounding 71 percent of the vote.
Earlier this month, it was announced that the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) would go into effect on June 27, 2023. The PWFA requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to their workers for any known limitation they may have related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. But what exactly do these protections and accommodations look like, and what could you expect as an employee or employer?
Since the announcement, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has laid out a clearer image of what employers and employees can expect once the PWFA goes into effect. Below we've provided a summary of the critical aspects of the PWFA in anticipation of the new law. Also noted, the PWFA requires the EEOC to issue regulations to carry out the law; however, how they plan to enforce those regulations is still unknown.
What Protections Will the PWFA Provide?
The PWFA seeks to fill gaps left by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 (PDA) by extending protections similar to those provided under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). While pregnancy discrimination technically is already prohibited by the PDA, which amended Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964-- the PDA requires covered employers to treat those employees who are affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or similar medical conditions the same as other similarly situated employees.
While the ADA of 1990 requires employers to provide accommodation to their employees with certain conditions that are related to pregnancy that qualify as a disability, like gestational diabetes. However, many other common pregnancy-related conditions are not covered by the ADA. Under the PWFA, employers with 15 or more employees will now be required to provide reasonable accommodations for known limitations related to those employees affected by pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions.
Certain standards will apply, however, as also mentioned in the ADA— "unless such [a] covered entity can demonstrate that the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of the business." Under the PWFA, it will expressly prohibit employers from the following actions:
Requiring covered/qualifying employees to accept an accommodation outside what is considered as "reasonable accommodation arrived at through the interactive process."
Denying covered/qualifying employees "employment opportunities" based on the need to make reasonable accommodations.
Requiring covered/qualifying employees to take paid or unpaid leave even if another reasonable accommodation can be provided.
Taking action against covered/qualifying employees requesting reasonable accommodations in the form of conditions or privileges of employment.
Taking retaliation against employees for reporting or opposing unlawful discrimination under the PWFA.
Which Conditions Are Covered by the PWFA?
While the PWFA protects those individuals who are affected by pregnancy, it does not apply to pregnancy itself but to what they refer to as the "known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions." The law does not specify what forms of conditions will be considered a known limitation other than stating they must be physical or mental conditions that are related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related conditions and that the affected employee must communicate it to the employer.
What Are the Qualifications for Reasonable Accommodations?
Similar to the ADA, the PWFA's definition of reasonable accommodation states that it is an adjustment to a job or work environment that actively enables the employee with a disability an equal opportunity to perform a job successfully. Typically this is determined through engaging in the interactive process between a covered/eligible employee and the employer. However, it is important to note that the PFWA does not specifically define the forms of reasonable accommodations that may be required–the EEOC is to issue the regulations needed to carry out its provisions surrounding examples of reasonable accommodations.
According to the EEOC, these regulations are to be issued within one year of the law's enactment. Until then, the EEOC has provided a guideline as to what ideas of reasonable accommodations will be contemplated by the act. Examples from the House Committee on Education and Labor Report on the PWFA include the following:
Ability to drink water
Access to closer parking
Easy availability to sit
Flexible working hours
Appropriately sized uniforms and safety apparel
Additional break times for eating, resting, and or bathroom use
Use of leave time to recover post childbirth
Ability to opt out of strenuous activities
Ability to opt out of exposure to compounds unsafe for pregnancy
Once the PWFA goes into effect on June 27, 2023, the EEOC will begin to analyze charges regarding accommodations for those affected workers. In lew of the coming changes with the PWFA, employers may want to consider taking action to better prepare themselves and any current or future employees that may fall under the PWFA coverage. If you are a current employee who has been affected by pregnancy or childbirth, or related medical conditions and have any questions regarding the PWFA, you can connect with our attorneys today.
Earlier this month, Dorel Juvenile Group, a segment of Dorel Industries, Inc that focuses on juvenile brands like Maxi-Cosi and Tiny Love, are recalling over 59,000 products. According to the report released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), roughly 60,000 of their car seats were recalled due to an issue with their car seats' lower anchors. According to the report, was found that during a car accident or crash, the lower anchors can fail, allowing the car seat to detach, increasing the risk of injury or death for any child in those seats. While the company has not officially received any injury reports over the car seats before the recall, the high risks associated with the lower anchors failed to comply with the federal safety requirements, thus triggering the recall.
The NHTSA estimated that the recall affected 59,450 units manufactured from May 1st, 2020, to February 28th, 2023. The impacted car seats were mainly sold in the United States and Canada; however, the company reports show that customers in other countries also received affected car seat shipments. Dorel claims that the affected car seats include the Safety 1st onBoard 35 Secure Tech, Safety 1st Secure Tech Infant Base, Maxi-Cosi Coral XP, Maxi-Cosi Mico XP Max, Maxi-Cosi Mico XP, Maxi-Cosi Mico Luxe+, and Maxi-Cosi Infant Base car seats.
Below, we have listed those car seats included in the recall, including the model numbers indicating their specific models and color/fashion. For customers looking to locate their product's model number, as well as the date of manufacture, they can be located on the label included on the carrier shell and/or the base of the car seat.
IC313 MAXI COSI CORAL XP CAR SEAT
IC335 MAXI COSI INFANT CAR SEAT BASE
IC336 MAXI COSI MICO XP MAX INFANT CAR SEAT
IC337 MAXI COSI MICO XP MAX INFANT CAR SEAT
IC338 MAXI COSI MICO XP MAX INFANT CAR SEAT
IC351 SAFETY 1ST ONBOARD 35 SECURETECH CAR SEAT
IC370 MAXI COSI MICO LUXE + INFANT CAR SEAT
IC372 SAFETY 1ST SECURETECH INFANT CAR SEAT BASE
Certain car seat models were purchased at retailers with a stroller as part of a "Travel System." Those products include the following:
TR416 MAXI COSI GIA XP TRAVEL SYSTEM W/MICO XP
TR427 MAXI COSI ZELIA 2 MAX TRAVEL SYSTEM MXP
TR428 MAXI COSI TAYLA TRAVEL SYSTEM W/MICO XP
TR430 MAXI COSI ADORRA TRAVEL SYSTEM W/MICO XP
TR433 MAXI COSI TAYLA XP TRAVEL SYS W/CORAL XP
TR434 MAXI COSI MARA XT TRAVEL SYS W/ CORAL XP
Car seat models sold in Canada include the following:
01371 CAN MAXI COSI LILA CP TRAVEL SYSTEM
22304 CAN MAXI COSI CORAL XP INFANT CAR SEAT
22321 CAN MICO XP MAX CAR SEAT
22334 CAN MAXI COSI MICO XP MAX
22524 CAN MAXI COSI CORAL XP BASE
22526 CAN MAXI COSI MICO XP BASE
For other car seats sold outside of the United States, Dorel claims they are working with local distributors in order to ensure those customers will receive notice of the recall and how to proceed if their car seats have been affected by the faulty anchors.
Could Replacement Car Seats Soon Be on the Way?
According to their website, those customers who are eligible to register their faulty car seats for the recall have been told it is safe to use their car seats. The car seats are safe to use as long as you have the base of the car seat installed and are using the vehicle belt or if you are only using the carrier shell installation with the vehicle belt. Dorel also highly recommends that their customers follow examples read in the existing instruction manual and labels for added instructions on how to use the car seat properly. The company claims they have plans to issue replacement bases to those customers who have purchased the faulty car seats and will be contacting their customers via mail or email by April 7th, 2023, as stated on their website notice.
In order for customers of the faulty car seats to submit a claim, they can contact Dorel customer service via phone at 1-877-657-9546 or email at RetractableLatchRecall@djgusa.com. Customers may also register their car seats on Maxi-Cosi or Safety 1st registration sites. Customers can also contact the NHTSA hotline at 1-888-327-4236 as well as visit their administration's website to submit a claim on their car seats.
If you believe you or a loved one has purchased a recalled Dorel car seat, we want to help you. For more information regarding this recall or if you have questions about submitting a claim, you can contact our attorneys today for help. To contact one of our attorneys, please complete our free, no-obligation case evaluation form. See why millions trust Morgan & Morgan.
On March 9, 2023, in cooperation with Health Canada and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), YETI®, the American manufacturer specializing in outdoor products, recalled nearly 1.9 million of their products. In the recall notice posted earlier this month, YETI® is recalling their soft coolers and gear cases after receiving multiple reports regarding a design flaw on the bags that created an ingestion hazard.
The products included in the recall involve the YETI® Hopper M20 Soft Backpack Cooler, Hopper M30 Soft Cooler 1.0 and 2.0, and the SideKick Dry Gear Case, all of which were sold in multiple colors. The recall reports that the issues with the products revolve around the primary pocket closures on the bags. These closures are lined with high-powered magnets that are enclosed in a heat-sealed strip. The safety risks come directly from the closures, as they can fail and result in the magnets detaching and pose a risk of serious injury or even death if ingested.
According to a statement released by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, when two or more high-powered magnets are ingested into your system, they can attract toward one another or toward another magnetic or metal object. The magnets can then get lodged in your digestive system. Once stuck, they can tear holes, create twisting, or cause blockage in your intestines. Other issues caused by ingested magnets include infection, blood poisoning, and even death.
Thankfully, there have yet to be any reports of magnet ingestion or injuries. However, YETI® has received 1,399 reports of the magnetic closures failing or deteriorating over time. Reports have also mentioned that the magnets inside the closures over time have either detached or gone missing altogether. The recall also asks consumers to stop using the recalled products immediately and to contact YETI® for a complete refund or replacement product.
How to Know Which YETI® Products Have Been Recalled
As previously mentioned, 1.9 million YETI® products were recalled due to a magnet ingestion hazard. The defective products were sold nationwide from March 2018 to January 2023 at retail stores like Dick's Sporting Goods, ACE Hardware, Academy Sports + Outdoors, and YETI®. The products were also available online on YETI's® website and through Amazon.
For your convenience, we've gone ahead and listed the specific products that are included in this recall, as well as their product number or SKU.
In order to submit a claim for your recalled YETI® products, visit their website at yeti.com for complete instructions on how you can return the defective cooler or gear. Once you have completed the recall form, YETI® is offering free returns, as well as a free suggested replacement product of equal or greater value. If you are not interested in the suggested item, they are also offering a full refund through a YETI® gift card that will include an additional $25 at no cost to you.
If you believe you have a recalled YETI® product or that you were injured because of your YETI® product, you may be entitled to compensation.
For more information regarding this case, you can connect with one of our attorneys today by completing our free, no-obligation case evaluation form.