Lamberton Law Blog
Stay up to date on current developments in employment law and at the Lamberton Law Firm
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Martin Sheen - A lifetime in the cause of civil rights and economic justice
On April 13, 2013, the Pittsburgh employment lawyers at the Lamberton Law Firm proudly celebrated Martin Sheen's lifetime of service and dedication to the causes of workers' rights, civil rights and global peace. Mr. Sheen has been a friend of labor for more than 40 years and been arrested 66...
Equal pay claims
The right of employees to be free from discrimination in their compensation is protected under several federal laws, including the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, and Title I of the Americans...
A 20% premium wage just for being male
The Equal Pay Act has been law for 50 years, but women are still way behind men in earnings. April 9 is the date when U.S. working women finally catch up to the amount men earned by last December 31. That's because the gender pay gap between women and men for full time year...
Celebrating working-class solidarity
The United States doesn't celebrate May Day as an official national holiday, setting itself apart from the rest of the world's democracies. Elsewhere, May 1 is International Workers' Day, observed with speeches, rallies, and demonstrations. This celebration of working-class solidarity originated...
New cases seek to clarify pregnancy discrimination laws
As reported April 1, 2013 by Anna Louie Sussman of Reuters: Two recent complaints filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission seek to clarify the rights of pregnant women under a 2008 amendment to the Americans with Disabilities Act. Both complaints were brought by pregnant women...
City officials say UPMC profit-lust at odds with charitable status
Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl announces challenge to UPMC's bogus tax-exempt status and assembles an excellent legal team to do it. As reported on March 22, 2013, by Sean Hamill of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: When Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl announced Wednesday that he was going to...
Veterans still struggling to find work
It has been more than 10 years since the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the start of a war that still divides our nation. President Barack Obama pulled the final U.S. forces out, but the war is still taking a toll on veterans and their families, on our federal finances and on Iraqis. In the wake...
Raise the Minimum Wage
A few remarks from a Nobel-prize winning economist on raising the minimum wage - [The President has called for] a rise in the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $9, with subsequent increases in line with inflation. The question we need to ask is: Would this be good policy? And the answer...
Time to guarantee paid maternity leave
The United States remains the only member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, or OECD, that does not guarantee mothers any paid time off from work after the birth of a new child. (see Figure 1) In fact, the United States is one of only three countries in the world...
FMLA helps millions of Americans
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) alleviates some of the "work/life" problems that arise every day across the country. The FMLA is a federal law that requires employers to provide employees leave for qualified medical and family reasons, without risk to the employees job. The law...
Prescription medications in the workplace
An Ohio company has been fined $50,000 by the EEOC after firing an employee who tested positive for a prescribed medication for her bipolar disorder. The agency accused the company of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. Chassity Brady was a quality control lab technician in the...
Employers subvert enforcement of the anti-discrimination laws
The federal anti-discrimination laws represent the public policy of the United States to eliminate discrimination from the workplace. Both the EEOC and private parties enforce these laws, with the lion share of enforcement actions taken by private parties who assert claims. Employers know that if...
War on the middle class
"Right-to-work" laws weaken unions by making them provide services to union and nonunion members alike, without making all beneficiaries pay their fair share. By severely weakening unions, which are vital to strengthening the middle class and improving the economy, "right-to-work" laws have broad...
Woman fired because boss gets erection
A dentist acted legally when he fired an assistant that he found attractive simply because he and his wife viewed the woman as a threat to their marriage, the all-male Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday. The court ruled 7-0 that bosses can fire employees they see as an "irresistible attraction,"...
Is your supervisor a "supervisor" under Title VII? Supreme Court to decide soon
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that will clarify who is a "supervisor" when it comes to Title VII sexual harassment litigation. Under current law, an employer is vicariously liable under Title VII for severe or pervasive workplace harassment by the supervisor. If the harasser is...