Articles Posted in Pennsylvania

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Here’s another reason why enforcing a non-compete can be so darn expensive

I’ve litigated many battles between companies over trade secrets and non-competition and non-solicitation agreements. The tie that binds them all is that these cases are expensive to prosecute and defend. When these cases advance to court, most are about one thing: getting an injunction to stop a former employee from…

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Can an employee legally be fired for using over-the-counter CBD products?

Last night, I read this federal court opinion where a defendant, sued after firing a plaintiff who used CBD for her disability, got the entire case dismissed. So, let’s talk about how and why. According to the plaintiff’s complaint, she had a disability for which she used an over-the-counter CBD…

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Sorry, no, employers cannot unilaterally reduce FMLA leave entitlements below 12 weeks

“Oh, word?” — none of you, hopefully. The Family and Medical Leave Act states that an eligible employee “shall be entitled to a total of twelve workweeks of leave during any twelve-month period” for several qualifying reasons. When I look up the word “shall” in the dictionary, it says, “used…

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Don’t ruin your arbitration agreements by doing this…

Some of you require your employees to sign agreements requiring them to arbitrate employment claims — other than claims of sexual harassment or abuse, of course. But what happens if your employees later sign another agreement — a severance agreement, for example — that doesn’t contain an arbitration provision? One…

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A federal judge made it really dang hard to prove medical marijuana discrimination

CommunistSquared, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons Greetings from Seattle. Before I begin my day of **checks notes** culture and refinement, I figured I’d blog first about this recent opinion from a federal court in Pennsylvania. It involves an individual — let’s just call him “Plaintiff” — who claimed that his former…

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What REALLY happens when an employee doesn’t return completed FMLA paperwork?

medical form by Linseed Studio from the Noun Project I think we all need a break from the COVID-19 vaccination posts. So, let’s address your second-favorite HR topic: FMLA leave administration!!! Hey, put down that bottle! It’s only 8 am. I’ve got a not-so-hypothetical for you. Let’s say that you…

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A judge wasn’t buying a plaintiff’s religious reasons to avoid a vaccine mandate. And, sometimes, neither should you.

Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay Yesterday, my friend Jon Hyman blogged about fetal stem cells and vaccine-mandate religious exemptions. TL;DR. Any employee that refused the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines because they contain aborted fetal cells is full of 💩. They don’t. Consequently, any religious exemption request that an…

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First, some anti-maskers sued a store over its mandate. Now, they are losing discovery disputes and getting sanctioned.

Image by Viktor Ivanchenko from Pixabay Like many of you, news of the untimely death of Michael K. Williams shook me. RIP. I thought more about Mr. Williams yesterday as I read two reports and recommendations from a Discovery Special Master assigned to a COVID-19 face mask case. Specifically, I…

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Here’s hoping employers in states like PA paid nonexempt employees for COVID-19 temperature checks at work. Otherwise…

Image by S K from Pixabay Technically, Pennsylvania is a Commonwealth. But that’s not really the point of this post. So, I’ll digress. I tend to overuse the phrase “your mileage may vary” on this blog. Often, I use it when comparing the laws of different states. But, I also…

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Does federal law forbid discrimination based on interracial relationships? Two courts disagree.

Image Credit: MaxPixel.net A white employee complains in writing that a colleague called his biracial grand-niece a “monkey” and texted him racially offensive comments about his coworkers. Within months, the employer fired the complainant. Is this retaliation? A federal court in Pennsylvania said no. It reasoned that while Title VII…