Willig, Williams & Davidson partner Michael Dryden recently discussed his client’s fight for benefits in a Philadelphia Inquirer article entitled “Philly needs to do right by a fire chief dying of cancer.” The article highlights Philadelphia Fire Department battalion chief John Narkin’s ...
The New ACA ‘Decision’ by Judge Reed O’Connor: What You Need to Know Now
On December 14, 2018, Federal District Judge Reed O’Connor (in the Northern District Court of Texas) issued an order on a challenge to the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) brought by 20 Republican state attorneys general and two individuals. These Plaintiffs claimed that because Congress, in the ...
Third Circuit Rejects Employer Attempt to Shift Withdrawal Liability to Teamsters Union
The Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act of 1980 (MPPAA) imposes an exit charge on employers that stop participating in multiemployer-union defined benefit plans. The exit charge approximates the withdrawing employer’s share of the plan’s total unfunded vested benefits owed to ...
OSHA Proposes Cutbacks on Mandatory Reporting of Workplace Injuries
On July 30, 2018, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking to ease Obama-era reporting requirements of workplace injuries and illnesses. Under the new proposal, many employers will no longer be required to annually submit ...
What is Pregnancy Discrimination?
In 1978, Congress passed the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (“PDA”) as an amendment to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The PDA prohibits employers from discriminating against employees or applicants for employment on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or a medical condition ...
Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Historic Ruling in the Pennsylvania Gerrymandering Case
On Wednesday, February 7, 2018, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court (“Court”) issued its historic ruling in the Pennsylvania gerrymandering case, declaring that the Pennsylvania General Assembly’s hyper-partisan and politically-gerrymandered 2011 congressional redistricting plan (“2011 Plan”) violated ...
PA Supreme Court Strikes Down 2011 Congressional Redistricting Map as Unconstitutional
Today, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in a 5-2 decision struck down the 2011 congressional redistricting map as unconstitutional under the Pennsylvania Constitution and barring its use in the regular primary and general elections this year. As reported in an earlier post, Willig, Williams & ...
Pennsylvania Unions File Amici Brief in Gerrymandering Case
On January 5, 2018, eight unions– the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, AFSCME Council 13, AFGE, AFT Pennsylvania, APSCUF, CWA District 2-13, SEIU Pennsylvania State Council, UFCW Local 1776 and UNITEHERE–filed an amici brief in support of a legal challenge to the Pennsylvania congressional redistricting map ...
Increased Exposure to Child Abuse Reporting in the Workplace
The Pennsylvania Legislature, to a large degree in response to some of the institutional failures apparent at Penn State University in the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky scandal, took several steps to broaden the definition of child abuse. These changes to the Child Protective Services Law and a ...
Changes to Pennsylvania Law Concerning Notaries Public Coming Soon
Virtually every union, health and welfare fund, and pension fund that maintains offices in Pennsylvania has designated at least one officer or employee to obtain a commission from the Secretary of State to be a notary public. Major changes to the notary law go into effect on October 26, 2017 and all ...