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Employment Law

Gone but not forgetting: Illegals sue for back wages

07/01/2007

Illegal immigrants working for Rosenbaum-Cunningham International (RCI), a janitorial contractor based in Palm Beach, FL, have filed a federal lawsuit seeking back wages for work they did in restaurants in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and other cities …

PPG faces discrimination suit for ADEA, ERISA violations

07/01/2007

Five former employees who say they were fired for being too old and costly have hit PPG Industries, Inc., the Pittsburgh-based paint, glass and chemical giant, with a class-action lawsuit …

Sound policy triggers suit anyway

07/01/2007

The Pocono Medical Center in East Stroudsburg was following a special “8 and 80” pay plan permitted for health care providers under Section 7j of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) when it was slapped with an overtime lawsuit anyway …

Employee didn’t apply, so college couldn’t have discriminated

07/01/2007

When Harcum College in Bryn Mawr had an opening for a facilities supervisor, the department’s manager considered hiring an outside firm to run the unit …

EEOC gets go-Ahead for new age guidelines

07/01/2007

The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, headquartered in Philadelphia, has given the EEOC approval to implement a final rule allowing employers to give greater benefits to younger retirees than to Medicare-eligible retirees — without violating age-discrimination rules …

Handling workplace religious discrimination and harassment

07/01/2007

Few issues are as personal and potentially divisive as religion. Controversies generated by the “war on terror,” the abortion debate and other moral and ethical questions sometimes spill over into the workplace …

It’s the truth: no lie-detector tests

07/01/2007

Q. I want to know whether applicants have ever stolen from or been fired by a prior employer. Can I require them to take a lie-detector test?

No expectation of privacy on work PCs

07/01/2007

Q.  An employee recently complained that she had received pornographic e-mail messages and links to X-rated web sites from some of her co-workers. I want to review these messages — and other messages these guys have sent — to figure out exactly how large a problem I’m facing. Can I do this?

Time off for special-needs child

07/01/2007

Q. Our office secretary is the backbone of our company. Her son is in special education, and she periodically asks for time off to attend various school conferences and meetings about his progress. I don’t want to be stingy, but her absences really create problems for us. Do I have to allow her to take time off for these meetings?

Few women on staff? Watch for hostile-Environment claims

07/01/2007

Employers could violate the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD) even if they don’t intend to discriminate …