Every now and then an employment law decision will come down the pike that seems to come out of left field, leaving those of us who comment on these things to really scratch our heads. For every head-scratching decision, however, there is almost always one that seems like a no-brainer. That is exactly where the Commonwealth Court’s recent decision—Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals v. Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, Bureau of Labor Law Compliance, No. 2275 C.D. 2014 (Pa. Commw. Ct. Jan. 6, 2016)—involving the Pennsylvania Personnel Files Act (also known as the Inspection of Employment Records Law) seems to fall—in the ­no-brainer category.

According to the opinion, Elizabeth Haubrich attempted to avail herself of the little-known law that allows employees to request an opportunity to inspect their own personnel records from their employer. After getting stonewalled by her former employer, Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals (TJUH), Haubrich filed a complaint with the Department of Labor and Industry, Bureau of Labor Law Compliance, based on TJUH’s failure and/or refusal to provide her with her records. The department is authorized by the act to enforce its provisions and to order access to the requesting employee’s files. Here, the department granted Haubrich’s request to inspect her personnel file.

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