Recently in Employment Law Category

Last year, the Sixth Circuit surpassed the Ninth Circuit as the most-reversed federal appellate court, according to the ABA Journal.

This term, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals is looking like a real contender for the most mistaken crown.

Last month, the Supreme Court reversed the Philadelphia-based appellate court in Millbrook v. U.S. and Comcast Corp et al v. Behrend. This week, it added two more cases to that list: US Airways v. McCutchen and Genesis Healthcare Corp. v. Symczyk.

Tamika Covington just wants to ref boys’ high school varsity basketball games.

After more than 10 years as a basketball official in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, Covington sued various entities that have some role in high school athletics in New Jersey, alleging gender employment discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, Title IX of the Education Amendments, and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination.

The Steel Valley School District in Pennsylvania pays its teachers pursuant to a salary scale based on their education and years of experience. When the District hired Patrick Connelly, he had had nine years of teaching experience — in Maryland. But working in Maryland is practically the same as not working at all, according to Steel Valley policies: The District credited him with only one year when calculating his starting salary. Other new teachers with similar experience acquired within Pennsylvania — but outside Steel Valley — received at least partial credit for each year they had taught.

This week, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that the District’s pay policy did not violate the right to interstate travel under the Privileges and Immunities Clause.

Walmart stores have been in the news numerous times for alleged crooked practices. In a recent Third Circuit Court of Appeals case, the court rejected numerous claims against the retail giant.

The facts and allegations of the case are more interesting than the underlying legal arguments. We’ll touch more on the facts in the case for this end-of-week blog post, but if you’re interested in reading the legal arguments further, have a look at the Third Circuit’s opinion. The case has been going on for eight years and there have been at least four opinions on this case.

Last month, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals released a decision in Roger Fouche v. New Jersey Transit, an appeal involving a born-again Christian bus driver who wanted his Sundays off.

Unfortunately for the bus driver, the New Jersey Transit Corporation fired him, citing that his request placed an undue burden on the company.

Employment discrimination cases pop up every so often in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals and here, the court addresses the elements of a prima facie racial discrimination case.

The court sided with the employer, Teva Pharmaceuticals. Nevertheless, the discussion on employment discrimination is always interesting and worth digging into.

The definition of “employer” is crucial to a valid federal employment claim and for class certification in class action lawsuits by employees. In a recent decision, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals narrowed down the Fair Labor Standards Act’s definition of “employer.”

The district court had previously held that Enterprise Holding (of Enterprise Rent-a-Car) was not a “joint employer” under the FLSA.

Do employees waive their rights to bring a class action lawsuit when they sign mandatory arbitration agreements?

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals says yes, in a recent opinion. Employees who consent to mandatory arbitration clauses in their employment agreements must arbitrate any controversy instead of litigating it.

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Monday that the residents-only hiring policy of New Jersey's North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue discriminated against African-American candidates.

The Third Circuit's decision upheld the U.S. District Court of New Jersey's finding that the residency requirement had a disparate impact on African-American applicants. The lawsuit was brought on behalf of three firefighter candidates by the NAACP in 2007.

Both North Hudson and six Latino firefighter applicants appealed the lower court's decision, stating that the residency requirement was essential for several reasons, such as locale familiarity, swift response times and fostering a bilingual firefighter force.

When it comes to being fired for viewing and sending pornographic images on work-provided accounts, age ain’t nothing but a number.

Ruling against a group of Latrobe Specialty Steel Co. employees who were fired for sending sexually explicit emails through their work accounts, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the workers had no basis in claiming that they were really fired because of their age.

The inappropriate conduct was discovered during a 2007 investigation into a sexual harassment complaint. Six employees were suspended, with four - all in their late 50s or early 60s - eventually terminated a week later after an investigation into the nature and volume of the emails exchanged.