Patricia Collins

June 19, 2020 | The Legal Intelligencer

The Supreme Court's decision in Bostock is historic—it expands the protections of Title VII to sexual orientation and gender identity, protections previously denied. The court's ruling requires employers to update and modernize their policies and procedures, hiring practices, training and workplace culture.

By Patricia Collins

6 minute read

February 26, 2020 | The Legal Intelligencer

This new year presents a host of compliance and litigation challenges for the employment law practitioner. Perennially, employment law attorneys focus on restrictive covenants and wage-and-hour regulations, and this year is no exception.

By Patricia Collins

7 minute read

October 18, 2019 | The Legal Intelligencer

Pennsylvania has not issued a final rule regarding its proposed rulemaking that would dramatically increase salary requirements and revise the duties test for exempt employees.

By Patricia Collins

5 minute read

June 21, 2019 | The Legal Intelligencer

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision resolves a split in the circuits regarding whether the requirement is jurisdictional, and highlighted the importance of the charge of discrimination and the motion to dismiss in employment discrimination cases.

By Patricia Collins

6 minute read

June 25, 2018 | The Legal Intelligencer

The court's holding that arbitration clauses in employment agreements are enforceable even if they result in a waiver of the right to bring a class or collective action is a blow to employee's rights under the FLSA. The case also provides a drafting lesson for practitioners.

By Patricia Collins

7 minute read

February 23, 2018 | The Legal Intelligencer

At the end of 2017, legislators in Pennsylvania proposed legislation to ban noncompete agreements. The proposal is consistent with a legislative trend in other states. In New Jersey, the Senate proposed a bill (Senate Bill 3518) that would place limits on the ability to impose noncompetes (there is a similar Assembly Bill, A5261).

By Patricia Collins

5 minute read

October 20, 2017 | The Legal Intelligencer

In Zuber v. Boscov's, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, No. 16-3217, the Third Circuit reversed a decision of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania that dismissed an employee's claims under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and common law on the basis of a compromise and release agreement signed by the employee to settle his workers' compensation claims.

By Patricia Collins

5 minute read

March 23, 2015 | The Legal Intelligencer

Recently, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, in Mathis v. Christian Heating and Air Conditioning, 13-3747 (March 12, 2015), examined the effect of factual findings in unemployment compensation proceedings in Pennsylvania on discrimination claims filed in federal court. The conclusion? The discrimination case is a "do-over," and nothing determined by the tribunal (including the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review and the Commonwealth Court) will collaterally estop either party, presumably, from taking a contrary position in the subsequent wrongful-termination suit.

By Patricia Collins

6 minute read

March 20, 2015 | The Legal Intelligencer

Recently, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, in , 13-3747 (March 12, 2015), examined the effect of factual findings in unemployment compensation proceedings in Pennsylvania on discrimination claims filed in federal court. The conclusion? The discrimination case is a "do-over," and nothing determined by the tribunal (including the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review and the Commonwealth Court) will collaterally estop either party, presumably, from taking a contrary position in the subsequent wrongful-termination suit.

By Patricia Collins

6 minute read

September 22, 2014 | The Legal Intelligencer

Recently, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has taken positions that may have an impact on employment litigation. In July, the NLRB Office of the General Counsel authorized complaints against McDonald's franchisees, finding that the franchisor, McDonald's USA LLC, is a "joint employer" with the franchisees for purposes of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). On Aug. 11, the NLRB issued a decision holding that an employee had engaged in concerted activity under the NLRA when she recruited co-workers to support her sexual harassment claim against her employer, Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Inc. While the NLRB's activities are not necessarily binding on our courts, they may predict trends in employment litigation.

By Patricia Collins

5 minute read