The spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) is having an impact on many businesses as they feel the effects of travel restrictions, market instability, labor shortages, factory closures and supply chain disruptions caused by the outbreak. While the full legal, regulatory and commercial implications of COVID-19 will continue to develop, the following information may prove valuable in assisting companies with a host of difficult questions on how to conduct business during this time of uncertainty. The main goal of this alert is to arm our clients and partners with information they can utilize in developing their plans and strategies.
Phillips Lytle’s multidisciplinary Coronavirus (COVID-19) Response Team is addressing the business and legal ramifications of this pandemic. With our deep experience in assisting clients with crisis management and emergency response in business, regulatory and litigated matters, we are poised and ready to help at a moment’s notice.
Business Contracts & Obligations
A force majeure clause excuses the performance of a party where such performance has become impossible or impracticable due to circumstances outside that party’s control.
Thorough force majeure provisions enumerate specific instances, including floods, labor stoppages, and “acts of God” or natural disasters; allocate risk between parties; and provide for notice and mitigation of nonperformance.
In New York State, such clauses are narrowly construed. Ordinarily, only if the force majeure clause specifically includes the event that actually prevents a party’s performance will that party be excused.
Where no such clause exists, courts will likely perform a foreseeability analysis. If a party could have foreseen the event allegedly responsible for its nonperformance at the time the contract was made, a court could find such party liable for breach.
The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) may apply to contracts governing the sale of goods. Section 2-615 provides that delay or nondelivery is not a breach where, among other things:
Rather than relying on traditional force majeure clauses or the UCC, drafters may want to incorporate into pending contracts specialized provisions that permit a modification of obligations or even termination in the case of pandemics, supply chain interruptions or adverse government mandates.
Where circumstances indicate that a contract party may not perform, the party seeking performance might claim anticipatory repudiation of the agreement as a means of mitigating loss.
To be justified in terminating an agreement and claiming anticipatory repudiation, the adverse party must have, by a communication or action, substantially impaired the value of the contract and clearly demonstrated an intent to not perform or not to continue to perform. Grounds for anticipatory repudiation may include an indication by the adverse party that it will not deliver the goods unless the party seeking performance pays an increased price.
It is important to note, however, that an erroneous claim for anticipatory repudiation will make the party seeking performance liable for breach. A simple delay in performance, for example, that does not impair the value of the contract, does not warrant anticipatory repudiation.
Where there are reasonable grounds for uncertainty, the party seeking performance has a right to demand adequate assurances. The demand should, among other things, be in writing; state the basis for the insecurity; indicate what assurances are being requested; and provide a timeline for the adverse party’s response. If the adverse party does not provide the requested assurances, it may be grounds for canceling the contract.
On March 4, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued an order to public companies subject to reporting requirements acknowledging that “[d]isruptions to transportation, and limited access to facilities, support staff, and professional advisors as a result of COVID-19, could hamper the efforts of public companies and other persons with filing obligations to meet their filing deadlines.”
Under certain circumstances, affected companies will receive an additional 45 days to file certain Securities Exchange Act of 1934 reports, including Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 20-F, otherwise due between March 1, 2020 and April 30, 2020.
Regardless of when filed, companies may want to include mention of COVID-19 to the extent it may pose a risk to business operations.
COVID-19 could have ramifications in merger and acquisition transactions. For example, a seller’s representations may include statements that various events have not occurred since a certain date and have not had a material adverse effect on the operations of the target company. In an attempt to limit the breadth of post-closing indemnification claims, sellers may attempt to include the effects of COVID-19 in the definition of “material adverse effect” and may add COVID-19-related impacts to the disclosure schedules.
Conversely, a seller may take the opposite position with respect to drafting closing conditions in transactions that have a gap period between signing and closing. In delayed sign/close transactions, the seller often accepts the buyer’s closing condition that there has not been a Material Adverse Change (MAC) between signing and closing. If the definition of MAC includes COVID-19 effects/events, then a buyer may have greater ability to refuse to close the transaction based on COVID-19 effects/events. Therefore, a seller should try to exclude COVID-19 effects from the definition of MAC. Even without a specific reference to COVID-19 in a MAC condition, the seller will need to monitor this definition closely to determine if it is impacted by COVID-19.
Labor & Employment
Employers responding to COVID-19 in the workplace need to be aware of both their legal rights and responsibilities, as well as the practical considerations in doing so to minimize disruption to operations. While there are myriad labor and employment issues that may arise regarding the COVID-19 outbreak, we have highlighted below those that employers are most likely to face at this time.
The General Duty Clause of the Occupational and Safety Health Act requires that all covered employers provide their employees with “employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm.” To meet this obligation, employers should follow the “Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19” prepared by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Employers may ask employees who report being ill if they are experiencing flu-like symptoms. Employers may send sick employees home and require sick employees to remain out of work. Taking an employee’s temperature is considered a medical exam regulated by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and should not be done without consulting with counsel. All employee medical information must be kept confidential.
Employees who are not working typically are not entitled to wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). However, with certain limited exceptions, salaried overtime-exempt employees must be paid their entire salary for any workweek in which they perform any work. Overtime nonexempt employees paid on a fluctuating-workweek basis under the FLSA must, with limited exceptions, also be paid their full salary in any workweek in which they perform any work.
Currently, COVID-19 will not typically qualify as a disability under the ADA or a serious health condition under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), unless complications develop. COVID-19 may, though, qualify as a disability under state or local disability laws, such as the New York State Human Rights Law. Employers should be aware that the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (Act), which Congress is expected to pass and the President is expected to sign shortly, would amend the FMLA to provide job-protected leave for employees affected by COVID-19. The Act would also require employers with fewer than 500 employees to provide employees with paid sick leave for COVID-19-related absences.
An employee with a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19 should be sent home for a minimum of 14 days to reduce the chance of further infection. Employers should identify all employees who worked in close proximity (three to six feet) with the employee in the last 14 days and also send those employees home for 14 days for the same reason. Employees who are sent home should not be identified by name, as doing so could violate the ADA and applicable confidentiality laws. Employees remaining in the workplace should be informed of the confirmed or suspected case and about the steps that are being taken to reduce the risk of infection in the workplace. Employers should also consider having a cleaning company undertake a deep cleaning of the affected workspaces.
Given the impact of COVID-19, many businesses are facing potential disruptions, downtime or decreased productivity and are concerned about the risk of loss to their business. Many companies may have insurance policies that potentially afford coverage for business interruption losses. Business Interruption (BI) Insurance is typically included within a property/casualty policy or in a comprehensive package policy as an add-on or rider. Such policies may cover some or all of the following:
The availability and scope of insurance coverage will depend upon the language of the specific policies your company has in place and the details surrounding the business interruption. Businesses should also be mindful of the importance of providing notice and submitting claims to their insurance carriers in a timely manner.
Earlier this month, the Office of the Controller of Currency (OCC), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and state regulators advised banks they regulate to take care of customers affected by COVID-19, recommending that they allow for short-term flexibility in loan repayment. Despite this general recommendation, the OCC cautioned banks that any loan modifications “should be based on the facts and circumstances of each borrower and terms of the loan.” The FDIC advised banks to evaluate whether or not certain loans experiencing pandemic-related stress qualify for restructuring. In summary, although COVID-19 is negatively impacting business as usual, whether or not a specific business will be considered for flexibility in its loan repayments will be evaluated on the specific challenges facing each business.
Parties to loan documents impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak should promptly analyze their rights and obligations. This includes the following:
In addition, the Small Business Administration is working with states to provide up to $2 million in low-interest disaster recovery loans to small businesses and not-for-profit businesses severely impacted by COVID-19. The interest rates are 3.75% for for-profit businesses and 2.75% for not-for-profits, with up to a 30-year repayment term.
There are a number of environmental compliance issues linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, which will need to be considered by businesses both near- and long-term. These include:
As the response to the pandemic evolves, many new and novel compliance issues are likely to arise.
As organizations increasingly move online for day-to-day business activities during this pandemic, it is important not to sacrifice data security for the sake of business expediency. Existing policies should be consulted and followed, and an organization should employ a multidisciplinary team to develop what may be an evolving strategy. The team, at a minimum, should be comprised of personnel from human resources, finance, IT, corporate security and the Board. Specifically, organizations should:
The foregoing are just examples of issues to consider when moving an organization’s workforce from physical offices to an online environment. Data privacy and security obligations continue to apply and should not be ignored during this time.
While our primary concern is health and safety, we also need to look at our contractual obligations, such as purchase and sale agreements and leases.
The following are key terms that need to be considered:
These concepts are often specifically covered in agreements, but not always.
Force majeure is typically a matter of the specific definition within an agreement. Force majeure is discussed in greater detail above. Keep in mind that force majeure generally involves when, not if. Force majeure events typically will delay an obligation to perform, but not forgive it. This contrasts with “time is of the essence” which, in simple terms, means that a deadline is strictly enforced. A MAC or MAE clause may, depending on the terms and conditions of the agreement, excuse performance entirely. Lastly, the phrase “best efforts” is a subjective concept, which is not easily defined.
In the context of a commercial lease, additional concepts to consider are “interruption of access and/or services,” and “BI Insurance.”
Leases often address circumstances where access to space and/or services are interrupted. These provisions are often aggressively negotiated and typically provide for a certain period of time before the clause takes effect. The specific lease provisions need to be reviewed to determine whether rent is abated.
BI Insurance becomes critical in this context. Some leases specifically require a landlord or a tenant to maintain BI Insurance. It is not necessarily true that if a landlord has BI Insurance, the tenant is not obligated to pay rent. Nor is it true that if a tenant has BI Insurance, it will cover the payment of the rent to the landlord.
This is merely an introduction to general concepts. The specific terms and conditions of the applicable agreements must be reviewed carefully. We recognize that there is much to consider in interpreting your obligations under agreements affecting real estate. Many of these provisions are governed by legislation and case law. Only time will tell whether there will be additional legislation enacted with respect to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the meantime, everyone is well advised to:
In addition, you need to continue to adhere to the other requirements of law, such as labor and employment, health and privacy requirements.
Additional Assistance
For further assistance with the specific business impacts of COVID-19, please contact the Phillips Lytle attorney with whom you have a relationship or any other Phillips Lytle attorney who can assist you during these times of uncertainty.
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