Denise Elliott

Subscribe to Denise Elliott's Posts
Contact:Read more about Denise Elliott

Nearly all employers maintain confidential or protected personal information, and many also maintain trade secrets and other confidential business information. Most of these employers also should – and typically do – enact policies to protect and limit access to such information, which their employees must follow or face discipline. Federal and state laws also exist…

Pennsylvania House Bill 799 – which mandates new workplace posting requirements related to veterans’ benefits and services – passed on June 30, 2025, and was signed into law by Governor Shapiro on July 7, 2025.  The Bill and its posting requirements will go into effect beginning January 2026.  So, what does the Bill say and …

Effective July 1, 2023, Maryland became the 21st state to legalize recreational cannabis.  Individuals 21 and over may now purchase, possess, and use cannabis products without fear of criminal repercussions in the state.  Cultivation of no more than two plants is also permitted.  Because Maryland has a developed dispensary system for medical cannabis, progressing…

On January 10, 2023, Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Wright addressed the question that has been plaguing employers since the passage of the PA Medical Marijuana Act (the “Act”) – what constitutes being “under the influence” for purposes of the Act’s safety exception?  As a reminder, when the Act was passed, the…

As we shared in past blog posts, the Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Act (“MMA”) contains an anti-discrimination provision, that prohibits employers from discriminating against an employee “solely on the basis of such employee’s status as an individual who is certified to use medical marijuana.”  Earlier this year, we also shared that the Superior Court confirmed that…

An employee may sue an employer under the Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Act (“MMA”) for discrimination because of the employee’s status as an individual who is certified to use medical marijuana. This was the recent holding of the Superior Court in the case of Moses Taylor Hospital v. Palmiter.  As you may recall, we discussed…

This week, Governor Wolf signed House Bill 1024, allowing certain revisions to the Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Act (the “Act”).  While the revisions do not specifically implicate the workplace, and do not provide guidance to employers on navigating medical marijuana use by employees, employers should, nonetheless, pay attention.

What changed?

House Bill 1024 makes permanent three…

The answer to this question is . . . it depends.  Based on three recent court decisions, whether the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (“PHRA”) protects medical marijuana (“MMJ”) users from discrimination on the basis of their current use of MMJ appears to depend on the specific accommodation requested by the user.  We summarize these key…