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Articles Posted in Pennsylvania

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New bill would ban confidential settlements of sexual harassment claims in Pennsylvania

One of your supervisors has just been accused of sexual harassment. Rather than spend the money to litigate the case, your company decides to settle. Let’s go through the standard provisions: Settlement payment General release Non-admission Mutual non-disparagement Mutual confidentiality Ah, not so fast on that last one if your business is…

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VP of HR fired for a Trump tweet still manages to collect unemployment benefits

Back in 2016, Kathleen M. Jungclaus was the full-time Vice President of Human Resources for a Pennsylvania continuing care retirement community. She had worked for the company since 2007. On July 24, 2016, Ms. Junclaus went on her personal Twitter page and tweeted: “@realDonaldTrump I am the VP of HR in a comp…

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Take a page out of this employer’s playbook for dealing with FMLA and absenteeism.

When a company has an employee who is approved for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, sometimes that employer get nervous about parsing FMLA-qualifying absences from other sick days that have nothing whatsoever to do with the employee’s underlying serious health condition. The end result is an employee who…

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The”Mark of the Devil” and the hellish cost to defend employment litigation

On the day before Halloween, a Pennsylvania federal court (here) denied an employer’s attempt to have a religious-accommodation case dismissed early. This isn’t your run of the mill religious-accommodation case. “The Book of Revelation prohibits the mark of the devil” The plaintiff, a school bus driver, alleges that she was…

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Court politely tells union where to stick its request to reinstate a member accused of sexual harassment.

***pops open can of Haterade*** A local Philadelphia-area school district employed a teacher/union advocate for about 10 years until it ended his employment on the grounds that he was creating a hostile work environment for his fellow teachers and making lewd and suggestive statements to students. Given that this is…

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In the Third Circuit, willful FLSA violations are as common as spotting a unicorn sliding down a rainbow into a leprechaun’s pot of gold as pigs fly by.

If an employer violates the Fair Labor Standards Act, like by not paying overtime, the plaintiff(s) can generally recover two years of unpaid overtime for the two years preceding the lawsuit. Those plaintiffs may also recover liquidated damages equal to the unpaid overtime. So, if an employer owes $100 in…

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“Perverse and absurd,” today’s post isn’t really as fun as it sounds.

Not even close to that fun. No, it’s about a guy who got fired after his employer concluded that he had gained unauthorized access to its electronic files. It just so happens that the plaintiff accessed those files to assist his employer in defending two discrimination actions that other employees…

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Promoting a new business on Facebook could violate a non-competition agreement. Who knew?

Actually, pretty much everyone.That includes, most importantly, the relevant portion of the three-judge Pennsylvania Superior Court panel in this recent opinion. The case, Joseph v. O’Laughlin, doesn’t involve an employment relationship. Rather, the plaintiff and defendant entered into an asset purchase agreement, which included a covenant not to compete. Among…

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Your company’s generous parental leave benefits could actually trigger a discrimination lawsuit

Just before the Labor Day weekend, I blogged here about an Americans with Disabilities Act complaint filed in federal court by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that should have employers scrutinizing their leave policies and procedures. Today, I’ve got news of another EEOC lawsuit filed in my backyard in the Eastern…