This Tuesday blog post is brought to you by the number 20. As in, when your non-exempt employees go on break for 20 minutes or less, you need to pay them for that time. A “bright-line rule.” The regulations to the Fair Labor Standards Act say (here) that “rest periods of…
That’s the opening line from the Director’s Cut of the advance screening that JJ Abrams sent me. Trueish story. Actually, the lede comes from a recent Pennsylvania federal court decision. Here are the facts: Mondelez Global LLC (“Mondelez” or “Defendant”) fired Fredrick Capps (“Capps” or “Plaintiff”) believing that he misused leave…
On Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court made a lot of — some would say, creative — lawyers unhappy. In a 4-1 decision, the Court held Wednesday that the language “intending to be legally bound” found in Pennsylvania’s Uniform Written Obligations Act will not save an otherwise unenforceable non-competition agreement. You can…
In Pennsylvania, the Rules of Professional Conduct require that an attorney must stay abreast of changes in changes in the law, including the benefits of advances in technology. LinkedIn was founded over 10 years ago. If you’re reading this and you are not familiar with LinkedIn … I mean, geez. For…
One of the finest employment-law bloggers, Daniel Schwartz, recently marked the eight-year anniversary of his Connecticut Employment Law Blog with a post about the three most notable changes in employment law over that span. Number one was social media. While for us bloggers, social media presents the lowest-hanging clickbait fruit,…
The Family and Medical Leave Act allows eligible employees to take up to 12 workweeks of unpaid leave in a 12-month period for a variety of reasons, including for one’s own serious health condition. An employee with a serious health condition can take FMLA leave if the employee satisfies…
[Editor’s Note: The employer in this post is a client; although, I did not represent this client in this case]. Yesterday, in Jones v. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, for the first time ever, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals recognized that a suspension with pay is not an “adverse employment action” under the…
I did very good well on my math SATs. But, here’s some simple math: Fired for posing at work in KKK garb and makeshift crosses + Meyer’s blog fodder = Don’t appeal your race discrimination loss Welp, the Caucasian plaintiffs in this case doubled down on stupid and lost at…
Yep, in this precedential opinion, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals created a Family and Medical Leave Act loophole that could protect “the most frivolous leave requests.” Folks, if your business is covered under the FMLA, and you’ve ever had to deal with a questionable medical certification for an employee’s serious…
This can be a really difficult situation. Just ask a local Pennsylvania employer. In Brady v. United Refrigeration, Inc. (opinion here), the plaintiff suffered from heightened sensitivity to perfumes, fragrant chemicals, and lotions. After she told her employer, the company attempted a number of accommodations: Purchased a portable air cleaner for use…
