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How to pop the (mediation) question - a mediator’s perspective

You are litigating a case and you want to raise the topic of settlement with the other side. It may be that your client has fatigue from spending money on legal fees and just wants to be done, you don’t like the way the...more

Apple’s Restriction of Employee Slacking Likely Unlawful

Verge reported last week that Apple banned employees from creating a Slack channel to discuss pay equity at the company. Apple claims that the channel violated its terms of use for its Slack channels, stating, “Slack channels...more

How to Play your Mediator

Employment disputes are often mediated as an alternative to trial. While most employment attorneys represent clients in mediation, few actually serve as a mediator. I trained as a mediator and launched a mediation practice...more

To Settle or Not To Settle: That Is the Question

Consider the following (common) scenario: your company has been served with a lawsuit by a former employee claiming they were wrongfully terminated. Legal counsel advises you that, while the employee is making what appears to...more

Don’t Get Caught With Your Employees’ Pants Down – Avoiding Exposure From Your Employees’ “Exposure”

Picture this, you get a frantic call one morning that one of your star employees, a middle-aged mother of three, has been outed as having an account on OnlyFans.com – a website where she posts salacious photos and videos of...more

Childless Employees - the Next Employment Litigation Frontier?

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted childcare and school and blurred the lines between home and work life. This, along with the dependent care leave provided by the CARES Act, has created new differences in the workplace -...more

Mediating While Socially Distant – My Surprisingly Uneventful Experience in Uncharted Waters

Most federal courts now require employment discrimination cases to go to mediation at least once before they go to trial. But with the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated social distancing, good old face-to-face mediation...more

It’s time to mediate a case with an ex-employee. Now what?

Today’s blog will review a scenario that is a common occurrence for many practicing employment lawyers, but that might not be as common for our readers. Let’s say that a former employee has filed a discrimination, harassment,...more

Medical Marijuana gets a New “Test Case” in PA

In a new case filed in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania on October 10, 2019 at Docket No. GD-19-014418, Derek Gsell of Moon Township, Pennsylvania is suing Universal Electric Corporation for...more

Your Employee Filed An EEOC Charge. Now What?

Charges of discrimination filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) (and similar charges with state and local human relations agencies) are a critical first step in an employee’s discrimination claim. ...more

Do I Have To Treat My At-Will Employees Fairly? No, but Yes.

A common misconception by employers is that they have carte blanche to treat their at-will employees however they want as long as their reason for doing so is not illegal. Technically, this is true - an at-will employee can...more

Ripping off the Band-Aid: Considerations for Negotiating Employee Severance

Consider the following scenario: you are a company decision-maker and are preparing to terminate a long-time employee. You want to get the employee out the door with as little embarrassing and distracting “drama” and headache...more

NLRB Rides the SuperShuttle Back to the Common-Law Test for Independent Contractors

On January 25, 2019, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued an opinion in SuperShuttle DFW, Inc., holding that SuperShuttle DFW franchisees are independent contractors rather than employees and therefore not...more

Philadelphia City Council Passes Fair Workweek Employment Standards Ordinance

On December 6, 2018, Philadelphia’s City Council passed the Fair Workweek Employment Standards Ordinance. The bill (bill No. 180649-A) would amend Title 9 of the Philadelphia Code and add a new chapter requiring certain...more

#Metoo reaches the federal courts

On July 3, 2018 the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled on the case of Minarsky v. Susquehanna County et al, 17-2646 (Jul. 3, 2018). The case clarifies and limits the scope of the Faragher-Ellerth...more

U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Class Arbitration Waivers

The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday decided Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, 16-285 (May 21, 2018), upholding employment contract provisions that require employees to arbitrate their disputes with the company individually rather...more

Does My Business Need an Employee Handbook?

While your business is not required to have an employee handbook, handbooks do offer many legal and non-legal benefits. A well-drafted and regularly updated employee handbook can provide employees and their supervisors...more

New Tax Act Bars Deductions for Settlements Related to Certain Sexual Harassment Claims

The recently enacted Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the Act) has been touted as the largest tax reform since 1986. Among its many provisions, the Act adds a new section to the Internal Revenue Code (Section 162(q)) targeting...more

Confidentiality and Sexual Harassment Claims – Will New Laws Limit Settlement Agreement Language?

In the recent wave of sexual harassment cases against public figures, it has come to light that women were paid large sums of money to keep their harassment allegations private, thus allowing their harassers to continue their...more

Feats of Strength: EEOC sues CSX for Employee Strength Tests as Gender Discrimination Under Title VII

The EEOC recently filed suit against CSX Transportation, Inc. (“CSX”) in Federal Court in West Virginia, on behalf of a nationwide class of female employees. In the suit, the EEOC alleges that CSX’s policy of requiring...more

Political Speech, Discrimination and the Law: How Employers Should Respond to Charlottesville

The recent tragic events in Charlottesville, Virginia and other news regarding the activities of white supremacists and similar groups, have served as a rude awakening for many that our national reality has shifted. These...more

One Strike and You’re Out—Third Circuit Holds a Single Severe Incident Sufficient to Establish a Harassment Claim

The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held on July 14, 2017 that a single severe incident of harassment may give rise to a claim of workplace harassment in Castleberry v. STI Group, No. 16-3131 (3d Cir....more

Beware Hugging at Work

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal published on April 17, 2017, “Embraceable You: When the CEO Is a Hugger,” describes a trend in which some executives greet employees and business associates with hugs in lieu of the...more

Employees Bound by Non-Compete Agreement When They Clicked “Accept” to a Bonus on Intranet

Two employees who clicked “accept” on an online form in order to receive a bonus were bound by additional language that included an agreement to not compete in the future. Messrs. Lynch and Halpin worked in sales for ADP, and...more

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