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The Employer Handbook BlogHow in the world did a DEAD person get suspended for racist behavior?!?
Uncredited [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Articles Posted in Pennsylvania
285,000 reasons that your company president shouldn’t ridicule an employee with a disability. Especially not in email.
Lorimar Productions/NBC [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Some may even consider Sybil to be ‘crazy.’
Or at least someone with a mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities a/k/a a disability. Continue reading
Does your company use no-hire agreements? Better call a lawyer. Maybe a criminal lawyer.
Image Credit: Pixabay.com (https://pixabay.com/vectors/resume-unemployed-job-unemployment-2163673/)
In most states, non-competition agreements between an employer and employee are legal, as long as there is some form of consideration (like money) to support them.
But, what about a no-hire or no-poach agreement; e.g., a ‘contract’ between two businesses where one (or both) agrees not to hire the others’ employees during their business relationship and for some time after it ends?
That must be legal too, right?
Probably not. Continue reading
The woman who worked for a sex-toy store has … wait for it … a sex-plus claim.
Image Credit: http://www.freestockphotos.biz/stockphoto/14050 (nicubunu acquired from OCAL (Website))
On most days, I blog for you, my readers, to educate you on new legal issues and to keep you ahead of the HR-compliance curve.
This is not most days.
Are you confident — “defending-a-class-action-lawsuit” confident — that you’re protecting electronic employee data?
jaydeep_ [CC0 or CC0], via Wikimedia Commons
Unfortunately, if you came here looking for links to big savings, I can’t help you. But, what I can do for you on this Cyber Monday is offer your business some different cyber tips. It’s the type of information that could save you thousands, or even millions of dollars if your business stores employee data electronically. Continue reading
Every state in the Third Circuit now recognizes LGBT rights at work. Third Circuit not so much for now.
Public Domain, Link
It’s right there in the statute.
Under New Jersey and Delaware state law, you can’t discriminate against an employee based on his or her sexual orientation or gender identity.
Now, you won’t find the words “sexual orientation” or “gender identity” anywhere in the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act. But, starting this month, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission is treating both “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as protected classes.
“Speak, English, Eric!”
LGBT discrimination is against the law in all three states in the tri-state area — at least according to the state agencies that administer each law. Continue reading
Which law firms would I recommend that you use to sue your employer?
I’ll wait patiently while you pick your jaws up off the floor.
I want some of what you’re having, Eric. Have you lost your freaking mind, Eric?
Nope, I’m good. Continue reading
My conversation with the lawyer who, IMHO, just earned the biggest employment law win of 2018.
By Chris Potter (Flickr: 3D Judges Gavel) [CC BY 2.0 ], via Wikimedia Commons
If you missed my post, well, it was long. 1,888 words long. So, here’s the super-condensed version: The Third Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that a plaintiff might not complain about sexual harassment at work for several years but still have a viable hostile work environment claim if she genuinely believed — and the record supported — that it would be pointless to do so. Continue reading
It’s the most important employment law decision of 2018
By Wolfmann [CC BY-SA 4.0 ], from Wikimedia Commons
Minarsky v. Susquehanna County (opinion here) is a sexual harassment case. And there’s a lot to discuss. But the biggest takeaway is that any subsequent employer-defendant asserting a Faragher/Ellerth defense in the Third Circuit will find it very difficult to obtain summary judgment on any hostile work environment claim. Continue reading
You may be able to litigate older trade secret misappropriation claims in federal court. Here’s how.
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Until a few years ago, if an employer wanted to pursue a claim for misappropriation of trade secrets, it probably had to do so in state court under state law. The Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 changed all that. The DTSA is a federal law that created a private federal civil cause of action for trade secret misappropriation. So, now, if an employee takes your precious trade secrets, you can sue under federal law in federal court. And, in certain circumstances, you can collect your attorney’s fees if you prevail. The DTSA has real teeth!
But, what if you learn that an employee misappropriated your trade secrets before the DTSA took effect on May 11, 2016. Are you stuck in state court? Continue reading