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Articles Posted in Third Circuit Employment Law 101

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You can’t fire an employee while on FMLA leave. Except when you can.

Image Credit: Pixabay.com Yesterday, I was reading this case about a woman who was fired while taking leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. She later sued, claiming FMLA interference; i.e., that her employer had denied her FMLA benefits to which she was otherwise entitled. An employee fired while…

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Hey Eric! Can I spy on my former employee’s Facebook messenger account?

Image Credit: Pexels.com (https://www.pexels.com/photo/facebook-glasses-privacy-privacy-policy-267372/) Asking for a friend, of course. A bunch of your employees just resigned, set up a competing venture, plundered a bunch of your trade secrets, and have begun contacting your customers. But, hold up! Your IT administrator examined their company laptops and struck gold! He reviewed…

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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. Tuesday, December 4 will be one of those days. If you haven’t…

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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 CommonsYesterday, I blogged here about the most important employment law decision of 2018. It’s a case called Minarsky v. Susquehanna County (opinion here). If you missed my post, well, it was long. 1,888 words long. So, here’s the super-condensed version:…

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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…

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I love the smell of Sour Patch Kids and the False Claims Act

You know, I don’t think we’ve ever discussed the False Claims Act here at The Employer Handbook. I don’t think we’ve discussed crowded clown cars either. And, while clowns may pique more interest, alas, this is an employment-law blog. So, I suppose we’ll enjoy our first taste of FCA together.…

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Citing Harry Potter, Third Circuit requires employers to pay non-exempt workers for short breaks.

Yep, Harry Potter. On Friday, the Third Circuit of Appeals issued a precedential Fair Labor Standards Act opinion. The issue was whether the FLSA requires employers to compensate employees for breaks of 20 minutes or less after they log off their computers and are free from any work duties. I…

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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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On John Cusack, Pink Floyd, Title IX, and medical residencies.

Serendipity may be one of the worst movies of all time. Of this, I am sure. Then again, I can’t stand John Cusack movies, especially that pretentious piece of one-know-what, High Fidelity. But, I’m not writing today to bash John Cusack. And, I’m not made of stone. Hot Tub Time Machine was…