Religious discrimination claims are skyrocketing. A supervisor at a local shoe store didn’t get the memo. Guess how that turned for him…
Articles Posted in Pennsylvania
How enforceable is a non-solicit agreement after you fire an employee?
To answer your question, it depends. And in Pennsylvania, there are a lot of factors that a court will consider, based on a recent case decided by the Pennsylvania Superior Court. But, unlike many prior Pennsylvania decisions that deal with the enforceability of a non-competition agreement after an employee is…
Third Circuit: The Lily Ledbetter Act Does not cover failure-to-promote claims
Our old friend Robert Rank-And-File is at it again. He has sued his employer, Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Delaware, Inc., in federal court. Robert claims that Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Delaware, Inc. violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when it failed to promote him because of his gender, national origin and race.…
How do PA, NJ, and DE address discrimination based on sexual orientation?
Recently, I read an article by Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle about a speech from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in which he told law students from U.C. Hastings that the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees equal protection to all U.S. citizens, do not…
A wake-up call to employers who raise vanilla affirmative defenses
Over at Texas Lawyer, Mike Maslanka has a short, but very important post about a recent case out of the
5 ways for Pennsylvania employers to prevent workplace violence
I remember about a month ago reading a post on Daniel Schwartz’s Connecticut Employment Law Blog about a shooting involving a Connecticut employer. Actually, at the time, I only skimmed the article. Nine dead. Tragic event. But it happened several hundred miles away. On September 9, in Northeast Philly, my…
In PA, NJ, and DE, when does religious expression take a backseat to workplace safety?
Your employee wears a head-covering. The employee’s head-covering is part of her religious practice. You’re not one to interfere with an employee’s religious expressions, but you’re concerned that this head-covering creates a safety risk for both the employee and others. And maybe you run a prison and the head-covering could…
Third Circuit Employment Law 101: Who Does The FMLA Cover?
My blog designers told me that if I want to build SEO — that’s Search Engine Optimization to you rookies — I’d better write about employment law issues affecting Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware (duh!) and “optimize” my blog post titles with the keywords near the front. Learn more about…
Third Circuit Employment Law 101: Constructive Discharge
In some cases, a plaintiff will argue as part of his Title VII discrimination action that his former employer didn’t fire him. But rather he was constructively discharged. That’s fancy speak for being forced to resign. But here in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, a plaintiff can’t just prevail in…
Third Circuit Employment Law 101: Quid Pro Quo Harassment
Robert Rank-And-File, an employee of Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Delaware, Inc., claims that Sally Supervisor told him, “Sleep with me, or you’re fired!” Robert declines Sally’s advances only to have Sally fire him. If Robert decides to pursue an action under Title VII against Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Delaware, Inc., how can he prevail at trial?…