Pennsylvania

Your company’s generous parental leave benefits could actually trigger a discrimination lawsuit

September 5, 2017 | by Eric B. Meyer

Pixabay
Just before the Labor Day weekend, I blogged here about an Americans with Disabilities Act complaint filed in federal court by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that should have employers scrutinizing their leave policies and procedures.

Today, I’ve got news of another EEOC lawsuit filed in my backyard in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. As I explain below, this one will have you reaching for a different leave policy — parental leave — to ensure no that there’s no hatin’ on the fellas. Continue reading

Fact or fiction: The FMLA may protect pre-eligible employees

August 15, 2017 | by Eric B. Meyer

That’s right folks. It’s time for another edition of “Fact or Fiction” a/k/a “Quick Answers to Quick Questions” a/k/a QATQQ f/k/a “I don’t feel like writing a long blog post.”

Let’s do an FMLA quiz. We know that an FMLA-eligible employee must check three boxes:

Work at a location that employs 50 employees within 75 miles;
Has at least 1,250 hours of service with such employer during the previous 12-month period; and
Must be employed for at least 12 months by the employer.

So, does the FMLA protect from retaliation an employee who requests leave before the one-year anniversary of employment? Continue reading

He was hired at 63 and fired at 64. Yep, that could still be age discrimination.

August 14, 2017 | by Eric B. Meyer

A lesson on why it’s so important to tell it like it is when firing someone. Continue reading

Pay attention HR! Transgender employees may have ADA (disability) rights too.

May 22, 2017 | by Eric B. Meyer

My decision to sit at the computer and begin blogging at 10:48 PM on a Sunday has backfired on me, for sure. Continue reading

A lesson on non-competes: What you don’t know, can’t hurt you. Until it does.

February 13, 2017 | by Eric B. Meyer

Ready, fire, aim.

That’s the approach that many employers take when seeking to enforce a covenant not to compete with a former employee.

Pretty soon, asking salary-history questions in Philly will get you sued.

December 13, 2016 | by Eric B. Meyer

Like requesting swiss cheese on your cheesesteak — way to go John Kerry — pretty soon, asking about a candidate’s salary history will be verboten too.

Can you fire an employee whom you learn is “alt-right”?

December 8, 2016 | by Eric B. Meyer

What the heck do pistachios have to do with the Alternative Right also known as the “alt-right” or white nationalists?

File the “blue collar workplace” defense to a hostile work environment in the trash can

December 6, 2016 | by Eric B. Meyer

When defending against a woman’s sexual harassment claim, I’ve found that “she was asking for it” is generally a bad defense. So bad, in fact, that you may just want to whip out the old checkbook instead.

Another crappy one, apparently, is trying to convince a judge that an industrial workplace setting is carte blanche to knuckle drag and generally act like pigs.

Also known as the “blue collar” defense.

A wise social media expert once said, “Think before you click.”

November 16, 2016 | by Eric B. Meyer

Who is that striking Solomonic sartorialist at 0:57?

PA federal court turns the page and protects gay workers from discrimination

November 7, 2016 | by Eric B. Meyer

In 2001, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals decided Bibby v. Philadelphia Coca Cola Bottling Co. In Bibby, the Third Circuit could not have been clearer about whether federal anti-discrimination law made LGBT bias at work unlawful.

“Title VII does not prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. Congress has repeatedly rejected legislation that would have extended Title VII to cover sexual orientation.”

That’s binding precedent on all lower federal courts in Pennsylvania.

Except, on Friday, Judge Cathy Bissoon from the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania concluded EEOC v. Scott Medical (opinion here) that Bibby is questionable, outdated jurisprudence.