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For government employers, disciplining and terminating employees can be especially difficult. Not only does the public employer face the same challenges in complying with the standard alphabet soup of employment laws that private employers do, including the ADA, ADEA, FMLA, Title VII, etc., they also have the complicated task of considering the application of an…

Recently, the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board (PLRB) issued a Final Order indicating that members of a volunteer fire company which provided coverage to a local borough were actually Borough employees.   In doing so, both the hearing examiner who issued the Proposed Decision and Order and the Board determined that it did not matter that the…

The United States Supreme Court has issued a decision further clarifying protected speech under the First Amendment. In Lane v. Franks, et al., the Court analyzed whether a public employee, testifying under subpoena, was entitled to First Amendment protection when his testimony was outside of the scope of his job duties.…
Continue Reading U.S. Supreme Court Finds Sworn Testimony Outside Scope of Regular Job Duties Entitled to First Amendment Protection

In a case which will interest public and private sector employers alike, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, District Council 87 v. Pa. Labor Relations Bd., the Pennsylvania Supreme Court is poised to address important issues regarding the subcontracting of public sector bargaining unit work to private sector contractors.…
Continue Reading Pennsylvania Supreme Court To Consider When a Public Sector-Related Entity May Subcontract Bargaining Unit Work to Private Sector Contractors Without Bargaining

In a recent decision, a class of correctional officers at a county correctional facility filed a class action lawsuit alleging that they were not compensated for time spent working before and after their scheduled shifts. The plaintiffs sought damages under both the Fair Labor Standards Act and Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act. The Court issued a decision that (1) dismissed the plaintiffs’ PMWA claims, but (2) granted the plaintiffs’ motion to conditionally certify a collective action based on their claims under the FLSA. The Court concluded that government entities were not covered by the PMWA and dismissed the plaintiffs’ state law claims. However, the Court also held that plaintiffs met their initial burden of showing that the proposed class members were similarly situated and conditionally certified the class for purposes of an FLSA collective action.…
Continue Reading The FLSA Applies to Public Sector Employers, Too

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 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

A recent Third Circuit Court of Appeals decision has made clear that supervisors in public agencies may be subject to individual liability under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The court previously has held that public employers, private employers, and supervisors in the private sector may be liable for FMLA violations. Now, for the first time, the court has extended FMLA liability to supervisors in the public sector.

The facts in the case will probably seem eerily familiar to many of you. But the result is scary for public sector supervisors, who now may be personally liable for back pay and other damage awards where their individual actions and decisions violate the FMLA.…
Continue Reading Public Sector Supervisors Can Be Personally Liable for Violations of the FMLA

Many watched intently in early February as the political theater unfolded in Madison, Wisconsin when Republican Governor Scott Walker proposed legislation to limit the collective bargaining rights of most state government employees. In a matter of days, the Capitol would be swarming with protesters and demonstrators on both sides of the issue. What followed was weeks of sit-ins in the Capitol, a mass walkout by all 14 Democratic State Senators to block a vote on the proposed law, the unprecedented recall elections of 6 Republican and 3 Democratic state lawmakers and a bitterly fought campaign to unseat an incumbent State Supreme Court Justice widely viewed as a pro-Walker.

Observers on both sides generally agree though that the movement to reform public sector collective bargaining rights has invigorated the debate on the role of unions in today’s uncertain economic climate.…
Continue Reading The State of State Unions: A Year in Review