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Apr 13, 2021

The era of the COVID lawsuit

We start with news on the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine: Federal health officials want a temporarily pause on giving it out. Plus, a former employee of the online retailer Wayfair sued the company, claiming he was fired because he needed to care for his kids during the pandemic. More cases like this are on the way, corporate lawyers say. Also, the latest reading of consumer prices shows they’re up, but let’s take a step back and look at the bigger picture. And, White House data on how it thinks each state would benefit from the American Jobs Plan infrastructure proposal.

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The pandemic has disrupted ties between many workers and their employers. A labor attorney says some companies are taking the opportunity to discard workers who are older, disabled or marginalized.
Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

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Segments From This Episode

Some of the increase for consumer prices that we're seeing today "will prove to be temporary"
That’s according to Jeffrey Cleveland, chief economist at Payden & Rygel. U.S. consumer prices increased a sharp 0.6% in March, the biggest increase since 2012, while inflation over the past year rose a sizable 2.6%. But Cleveland says it might be too early to draw sweeping conclusions about inflation. “The economy shut down a year ago. So prices, actually, in March, April and May of 2020 fell. And so as we proceed through April and May, we will have very easy year-on-year comparisons. The way central bankers think of inflation is a multiyear process. So it’s prices going up year after year after year, not just a few months or a few quarters of price pressures.”
A more granular look at what certain states would get from Biden's infrastructure proposal
Marketplace’s Nancy Marshall-Genzer has more.
Fallout from pandemic job loss: Workplace lawsuits
by Aaron Schachter
Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images
Many people have lost jobs due to the pandemic. Some are suing their former employers.
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Music from the episode

The Team

David Brancaccio Host
Victoria Craig Host, BBC
Stephen Ryan Senior Producer, BBC
Jonathan Frewin Producer, BBC
Daniel Shin Producer
Jay Siebold Technical Director
Meredith Garretson Morbey Senior Producer
Alex Schroeder Producer
Erika Soderstrom Producer
Rose Conlon Producer
Brian Allison Technical Director

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The era of the COVID lawsuit

Subscribe:

Segments From This Episode

Some of the increase for consumer prices that we're seeing today "will prove to be temporary"

A more granular look at what certain states would get from Biden's infrastructure proposal

Fallout from pandemic job loss: Workplace lawsuits

Music from the episode

The Team