Employer Liability

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In a recent opinion, the Pennsylvania Superior Court upheld a judgment in favor of a healthcare employee that alleged wrongful termination of employment following her repeated refusal to work mandatory overtime. The judgment included damages of $121,869.93 and an order reinstating the employee to her former position. The Court’s opinion focused on the question of…

On July 1, 2015, Governor Tom Wolf signed into law Act 15 (House Bill 1276), which amends Pennsylvania’s Child Protective Services Law (CPSL) to clarify the requirements of employers and volunteer-based organizations to provide for criminal background checks and child abuse clearances of their employees and volunteers who work directly with children.  Act…

In late June, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) announced a major initiative that will intensify and expand the agency’s enforcement resources in the healthcare industry, with a focus on several common causes of workplace injuries in hospitals and nursing homes including workplace injuries related to patient or resident lifting, as well as workplace…

In a case of first impression, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court recently issued an opinion examining the standards applicable to a claimant’s behavior when the claimant is receiving workers’ compensation benefits and has filed for unemployment compensation.

By way of background, the claimant suffered a brain injury at work and received workers’ compensation benefits. Several months…

Quick. Answer this: if one of your employees tells his supervisor that he needs surgery and will miss 2-3 weeks of work, do your managers know what to do? Do they call the employee’s surgeon? (NO!) Do they know who to speak with in HR and can they identify the above scenario as a potentially…

No, we’re not talking about the skit performed by the McNees Players at our recent Labor and Employment Seminar. In a recent case out of a Pennsylvania federal court, an employee alleged that she suffered from a fragrance allergy and “multiple chemical sensitivity” to fragrant chemicals, perfumes and scented lotions, which impacted her in several…

In a recent case out of California, a state appellate court found that an employee’s inability to work for a particular supervisor due to boss-related stress and anxiety did not constitute a disability under state law. The employee worked for her employer for approximately three years before being diagnosed by her doctor with adjustment disorder…