Adam Santucci

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Let’s say that you are having a Holiday party (with alcohol served) at your home, or you are a business owner and have a voluntary “company” party for your employees. If someone becomes “visibly intoxicated” at your party, are you as the host of the party liable if the visibly intoxicated guest leaves your party and injures himself or someone else? Does your homeowners or commercial liability policy cover you for defense costs and for a settlement or judgment if you get sued? What about worker’s comp coverage for your employees?
Continue Reading Are You Liable for Serving Alcohol at Holiday Parties?

It seems like we have been spending a lot of time discussing successful appeals of arbitration decisions lately, which is been a good thing for Pennsylvania employers. Recently, we reported on two cases in which an employer successfully appealed a negative arbitration decision. Historically, such successful appeals have been difficult. However, the current trend continued when…

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently issued a “Questions and Answers” sheet emphasizing that although Title VII and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) do not expressly prohibit employers from discriminating against the victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, these laws may create liability for employers in certain circumstances.

The document provides a number of illustrative examples of these potential pitfalls facing employers.
Continue Reading EEOC Issues Guidance on Potential Application of Title VII and ADA to Employees Who Have Experienced Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, or Stalking

We previously reported that a National Labor Relations Board Administrative Law Judge issued an interesting decision involving an employee who was discharged for posts he made on his Facebook page. In that case, the ALJ found that the employee was not discharged in violation of the National Labor Relations Act, because even though some of the employee’s Facebook posts were protected, the employee’s termination was based on only non-protected posts. Recently, the Board upheld the ALJ’s decision, providing helpful guidance to employers on the limits of the NLRA’s protections.
Continue Reading Discharge Over Facebook Posting Lawful

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania recently confirmed that sexual harassment is against public policy. Seems like a no brainer, right? The court seemed to agree, stating that the decision in Phila. Housing Authority v. AFSCME, District Council 33, Local 934 [WARNING EXPLICIT] (pdf) was not “a difficult case.” So, why did it take over a decade to reach this conclusion?

Let’s look at what happened.
Continue Reading Appealling An Arbitration Decision – A Success Story Part II

In the wage and hour realm, even the most knowledgeable Pennsylvania employers often are unaware of potential compliance pitfalls presented by state law. Like the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act (“PMWA”) contains overtime and minimum wage requirements applicable to Pennsylvania employers. The PMWA is similar, but not identical, to the FLSA, and compliance with the FLSA does not always guarantee compliance with this state law.

Earlier this week, a federal court in Pennsylvania highlighted another area where the requirements of the FLSA and PMWA arguably differ, and therefore, could lead to problems for the unwary employer.
Continue Reading Federal Court Holds That FLSA’s “Fluctuating Workweek” Method of Overtime Compensation Violates PA Law

The National Labor Relations Board recently issued a decision holding that an employer violates the National Labor Relations Act by establishing workplace investigation procedures, policies, or forms that attempt to prohibit employees from discussing ongoing workplace investigations with their coworkers. Specifically, the Board concluded that such a rule violates Section 7 of the NLRA, which protects employees’ rights to engage in “concerted activities” for their mutual aid and protection.
Continue Reading NLRB Decision Could Interfere With Workplace Investigations

As in most types of class-based litigation, plaintiffs in FLSA collective actions typically seek certification of as broad a class as possible. As the number of potential class members grows, so does the size of the employer’s potential liability and the plaintiffs’ leverage to obtain a large and lucrative settlement. One way to broaden the class size is to include employees of the employer’s sister companies in the class, under the theory that the sister companies’ parent company qualifies as the plaintiffs’ “joint employer.”

In the context of an FLSA collective action, the Third Circuit recently considered and established the test to be used to determine whether a parent company qualifies as the “joint employer” of its subsidiaries’ employees under the FLSA.
Continue Reading Third Circuit Clarifies “Joint Employer” Test Under FLSA

This post was contributed by Adam R. Long, a Member in McNees Wallace and Nurick LLC’s Labor and Employment Group and Osazee Imadojemu, a summer associate with McNees. Mr. Imadojemu will begin his third year of law school at George Washington School of Law in the fall, and he expects to earn his J.D. in May…

The National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB”) Acting General Counsel (“AGC”) released yet another social media report recently (pdf), the third report in the last nine months. The report summarizes the AGC’s view on seven social media policies’ compliance with Sections 7 and 8 of the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). This latest report, unlike the last two reports, does provide some guidance to employers on how to craft a social media policy that the AGC would deem lawful under the NLRA.
Continue Reading Three’s Company: NLRB Issues Third Social Media Policy Report