Delaney's work primarily involves litigation and counseling on federal and state employment matters before federal and state courts and administrative agencies against individual and class action claims of discrimination, sexual misconduct, harassment, and wage and hour violations. Her clients have included Fortune 500 companies, insurance companies, prominent medical providers, manufacturers, and luxury fitness facilities.
In addition, in her practice Delaney advises and collaborates with clients to ensure their compliance with anti-harassment and wage/hour regulations by working with them to develop relevant employee policies, training programs, handbooks, and agreements.
Prior to joining the firm, Delaney was senior counsel for a national law firm. In this role, Delaney worked on a wide range of litigation matters in the areas of insurance defense, employment, and product liability law, including claims against manufacturers of complex commercial machinery. She also provided representation in complex personal injury and property suits involving catastrophic injuries, losses, and environmental contamination.
During law school at Suffolk University, she served as managing editor and as a staff member for the Journal of Health and Biomedical Law. She also interned for the Honorable Judd Carhart, Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court, as well as for the Honorable Maureen Walsh, Presiding
Justice of the Holyoke District Court, and has authored several articles on employment and other topics for national publications.
Education
- Suffolk University Law School (JD)
- University of Vermont (BA)
Recognition & Awards
- Super Lawyers: Included on the list of Connecticut Rising Stars (2016 - 2019)
Recent Insights
Viewpoints
Viewpoints
Updated CDC Guidance: COVID-19 Employer Information for Office Buildings
June 1, 2020 | Blog | By Delaney Busch
Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (the “CDC”) issued updated guidance detailing steps employers and office building managers should take prior to reopening. This guidance follows the beginning stages of most states’ business reopening efforts. The guidance focuses on four major topics: Evaluation of the Workspace, Assessment of Risk, Implementation of Workplace Controls, and Education. In short, the guidance encourages employers to evaluate and address potential COVID-19 related hazards, and provides steps businesses can take to minimize exposure or transmission once their doors are opened. This new guidance echoes and supplements the CDC’s previous interim guidance as well as OSHA guidance, particularly with respect to the implementation of hazard controls.[1] We summarize significant portions of the CDC’s updated guidance in this post.
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Part Eight of the COVID-19 Roadmap Series: Avoiding COVID-19 Wage & Hour and Labor Law Pitfalls
May 15, 2020 | Blog | By Jennifer Budoff, Delaney Busch, Brendan Lowd
In Part Eight of our Roadmap Series, we take a closer look at wage and hour compliance concerns that may arise during the COVID-19 pandemic, and what employers can do to minimize these pitfalls.
Remember that wage and hour concerns, and how to properly address them, will often depend on whether a company is dealing with exempt employees (i.e., employees not entitled to overtime pay regardless of the number of hours worked in a day or week) or non-exempt employees (i.e., employees entitled to overtime pay if the employee works more than eight hours a day or forty hours in a week, depending on the state). This critical distinction will largely govern how employers should consider and plan for the issues described below.
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Remember that wage and hour concerns, and how to properly address them, will often depend on whether a company is dealing with exempt employees (i.e., employees not entitled to overtime pay regardless of the number of hours worked in a day or week) or non-exempt employees (i.e., employees entitled to overtime pay if the employee works more than eight hours a day or forty hours in a week, depending on the state). This critical distinction will largely govern how employers should consider and plan for the issues described below.
The WARN Act and COVID-19: What are Employers Obligated to Do?
May 14, 2020 | Blog | By Delaney Busch, Emma Follansbee
Facing the many challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, employers are considering their obligations to their workforce in the event of a reduction in force related to COVID-19 (“COVID-19”). This post provides an overview of an employer’s WARN Act obligations in the event a COVID-19-related closure or reduction in force.
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Part Four of the COVID-19 Roadmap Series: Ensuring a Safe Workplace – Reimagining the Physical Workspace and Business Travel
May 4, 2020 | Blog | By Delaney Busch, Morgan G. Tanafon, Angel Feng
Given the challenges presented by COVID-19, many businesses must consider large-scale, transformational changes to their operations. As social distancing continues and safety concerns pervade the public consciousness, adjustments to the physical workspace and business travel practices will be necessary to reflect these new considerations. In Part 4 of our COVID-19 Roadmap Series, we outline important planning steps and concerns employers need to consider relating to physical workspaces and business travel.
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Part Three of the COVID-19 Roadmap Series: Ensuring a Safe Workplace - Key Guidance for a Healthy Workspace
May 1, 2020 | Blog | By Delaney Busch, Morgan G. Tanafon
In Part 3 of our Roadmap Series, we outline important guidance, procedures, and concerns employers need to consider to successfully and safely bring back employees to their worksite. As authorities begin reopening economies and traditional workplaces once again open for business, employers are facing difficult challenges regarding reorganizing and protecting their places of business. However, the exact measures appropriate and effective for each workspace will depend heavily on the outcome of a worksite risk assessment.
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CDC Relaxes Self-Isolation Guidelines for Critical Infrastructure Workers
April 20, 2020 | Blog | By Delaney Busch
Employers in essential or “critical infrastructure” industries face significant challenges in maintaining business operations while ensuring the health and safety of their employees and their community. On April 8, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) relaxed its previous guidance on critical infrastructure workers returning to work or continuing to work after being “potentially exposed” to COVID-19. The interim guidelines now allow critical infrastructure workers who have had potential exposure to COVID-19 to return to work more quickly, or to continue working, provided the workers (i) are and remain asymptomatic; and (ii) that their employer(s) implement certain policies and/or protocols to protect their employees, as well as the community.
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Supreme Court Clarifies Race Discrimination Claims Under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 Must Meet More Stringent “But-For” Causation Standard
April 17, 2020 | Blog | By Delaney Busch
Bringing positive news for employers and a welcome distraction from the COVID-19 crisis, the United States Supreme Court recently held that for claims of racial discrimination under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 (“Section 1981”), plaintiffs are obligated to meet the more stringent “but-for” causation standard at every stage of a lawsuit.
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Governor of Massachusetts Orders Closure of All Non-Essential Businesses Due to Spread of COVID-19; Effective Tuesday, March 24th at 12 P.M. until April 7th at 12 P.M.
March 23, 2020 | Blog | By Delaney Busch
This morning, Massachusetts Governor Baker issued Covid Order No. 13 which mandates that, starting Tuesday, March 24th at 12 P.M., all non-essential businesses and other organizations “shall close their physical workplaces and facilities (“brick-and-mortar premises”) to workers, customers, and the public,” due to evolving spread of COVID-19 in Massachusetts. This directive also orders that, in furtherance of Massachusetts’s COVID-19 response efforts, all non-essential businesses and organizations “are encouraged to continue operations where they are able to operate through remote means that do not require worker, customers, or the public to enter or appear at the brick-and-mortar premises closed by this Order.”
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COVID-19 is Now a Pandemic – Should this Change Employers’ Response Strategies?
March 12, 2020 | Blog | By Delaney Busch
In our recent blog posts, we discussed the impact coronavirus / COVID-19 is having on the workforce, and what employers should or should not be doing in response to the outbreak. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization’s (“WHO”) declared the coronavirus outbreak is a “pandemic.”
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