- Tort action statute of limitations increased to 2 years in Louisiana. You now have more time to pick which personal injury lawyer will represent you or you have more time to settle out of court without a lawyer. Under Louisiana HB 315, Act No. 423, the statute of limitations (prescriptive period) to file a delictual action (tort suit) in Louisiana, including damages to immovable property, has doubled from one year to two years. A delictual action is damage or injury to a person, a person’s property, or immovable property caused by the act of another, ie, personal injury claims in car accidents, damage to personal property (to your dog, your cherished guitar, your iphone etc) or damage to a home or business. The two-year prescriptive period begins to run from the day the injury or damage is sustained. When damage is to immovable property, the two-year prescription commences to run from the day the owner of the immovable acquired, or should have acquired, knowledge of the damage. The law took effect on July 1, 2024, and is prospective only. Product liability claims, remain governed by the one-year rule. See articles 3493.11 and 3493.12 (repealing articles 3492 and 3493). Act No. 423 was part of a series of auto insurance reform bills endorsed by Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple which aim to bring availability and competition to the insurance market by cutting down on excessive verdicts and settlements. Temple stated that these bills will allow Louisiana to compete with other states in attracting insurance companies to write commercial and private auto business. Why does this law cut down on excessive verdicts and settlements? Presumably, a plaintiff has time to recover from their injuries and thus is less likely to file suit, and the parties will have more time to settle outside of court and away from lawyers.
- No soup for you during work hours if you are 16 years or older! Did you know federal law does not require an employer to offer any meal breaks to its employees? Some states generously require employers to provide a meal break or rest breaks; Louisiana does not. Louisiana previously required a meal or rest break of 30 minutes for minors under 18 years of age if shifts lasted 5 hours or more. Those needy, greedy, lazy children don’t need a break! Louisiana HB 156, ACT No. 603 amends the requirement that employers provide all minor employees (under 18 years of age) a thirty-minute recreation or meal break if their work shifts last five hours or more. Under the new law, employers are no longer required to provide these breaks to 16 and 17-year-old employees, but they must still provide breaks to workers under 16 years of age if their shifts last five hours or more. Caveat: Any nice employer can provide any number of breaks to its employees. Maybe think twice about working for a business that does not allow you a break if you have been working for 5 hours or more … in the blazing sun watching children swim, in a hot kitchen washing dishes, in a boiling gymnasium babysitting toddlers, or while working with heavy equipment on asphalt. Just sayin.
- Red flag alert! Prior to Louisiana HB161, Act No. 781 employers could require you to sign a non-disclosure agreement for any sexual harassment that you might encounter later in your employment. No more protecting harassers! Louisiana Act No. 781 rightly renders employer nondisclosure agreements involving sexual harassment or hostile workplace environment disputes not “judicially enforceable.” However, if you don’t want the world knowing you were sexually harassed, the Act allows employees to enter into a confidential settlement agreement “provided that the agreement is entered into after … a hostile work environment dispute or sexual harassment dispute has occurred.” An employer can no longer require a nondisclosure agreement prior to a hostile work environment dispute or sexual harassment dispute.
- Bystander Bill – stay back from a police officer in the line of duty. Louisiana HB173 Act No. 259, imposes a fine of not more than five hundred dollars, imprisonment for not more than sixty days, or both for those who “knowingly or intentionally” approach an officer who is “engaged in law enforcement duties” after the officer has ordered the person to stay back. The law went into effect on August 1 in Louisiana. The Louisiana measure’s author, state Rep. Bryan Fontenot, said the legislation was drafted to provide officers “peace of mind and safe distance to do their job.” The bill is currently being challenged by media groups in Louisiana that have filed a federal lawsuit. The lawsuit states Act 259 would reportedly affect reporters and news organizations to exercise their First Amendment rights, preventing them from approaching close enough to document the officer’s solution to a situation.
- Court filings and records get a mandated upgrade with Louisiana HB 380, Act 694. Louisiana has sixty-four (64) parishes, and each one has its own system for court filings and access to court records. As it currently stands, there is no centralized electronic filing or court record system in Louisiana. HB 380, Act 694 institutes a requirement that every district clerk of court put in place an electronic filing and remote access system by January 1, 2026.
- Don’t SAY gay or lesbian or trans or bi-sexual or queer. Louisiana HB122 Act 681, prohibits teachers, school employees, or other presenters at the school from discussing topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity with students in grades kindergarten through grade twelve.
- You must refer to yourself (and others must refer to you) by your Given Name. Under Louisiana HB121, Act 680, a public school employee or independent contractor shall not be required to address a student by a name other than the student’s legal name, or a derivative thereof, and the employee shall not be required to use a pronoun that is inconsistent with the student’s sex. A public school governing authority shall not adopt a policy that provides for an inquiry of a student or school employee’s pronouns that is inconsistent with that person’s sex or for an inquiry of a person’s name other than the person’s legal name, or a derivative thereof.
- No mandating COVID-19 vaccines. Louisiana HB46 Act 674 provides that no person shall be required to receive a COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of enrollment or attendance at any public or nonpublic school, including college.
- Women’s Safety and Protection Act. Louisiana HB608, Act 436 attempts to provide protections for women and girls against sexual assault, harassment, and violence in public schools, correctional facilities, juvenile detention facilities, domestic violence shelters, dormitories, and restrooms, or where women have been traditionally afforded safety and protection from acts of abuse committed by biological men. It would require separate accommodations in certain contexts where biology, safety, or privacy are implicated. This includes requiring separate restrooms, dressing areas, and sleeping areas in public schools, separate areas in domestic violence shelters, and separate areas in correctional facilities and juvenile detention centers.
- Perimenopause and Menopause Mandated Insurance Coverage in Louisiana. HB392, Act 781 provides Medicaid and private insurance coverage for perimenopausal and menopausal care in Louisiana.
- Everyone will know convicted abusers of children. Louisiana SB217, Act 460: Creates a statewide database for individuals convicted of child abuse/neglect.
- Public Schools in Louisiana must display Ten Commandments in every classroom. Will the conservative majority of the United States Supreme Court break with precedent? Doubtful. Louisiana HB71, Act 676 requires all public elementary, secondary, and colleges in Louisiana to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom. Louisiana is poised to become the first state in the U.S. to adopt such a law. Implementing the requirement will use state resources (your taxes) and has already been challenged in Federal Court on constitutional grounds thus requiring State resources to defend these lawsuits. The State is likely relying on the new conservative majority in the Supreme Court to reverse precedent. Precedent includes as follows: the Establishment Clause, which is part of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” The Establishment Clause is interpreted to promote a separation between church and state. Over time, courts have clarified its meaning through various rulings. Some key interpretations include:
- No official state religion: The government cannot establish an official national religion, as this would violate religious freedom.
- No preferential treatment: The government cannot favor one religion over another, or favor religion over non-religion.
- Neutrality in public institutions: Public schools and government institutions must remain neutral regarding religious activities. This is why, for example, teacher-led prayer in public schools has been deemed unconstitutional.
The clause works alongside the Free Exercise Clause, also part of the First Amendment, which protects individuals’ rights to practice their religion freely.
Public Schools are run by your government so a mandate for public schools to post the ten commandments is an endorsement or promotion of religion. The Establishment Clause ensures that the government remains neutral regarding religion and does not favor or promote one religion over others. In several key cases, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that public displays of the Ten Commandments in government settings can violate the Establishment Clause. For example, in Stone v Graham (1980), the Court struck down a Kentucky law requiring the Ten Commandments be displayed in public school classrooms finding that this law had a “plainly religious” purpose that advanced religion.
