Answers Posted By Christopher Ezold

Answer to payroll jumping

You may have liability to employees if you participate in the practice

Under certain circumstances, you may have potential civil and even criminal liability for these practices. For instance, under Pennsylvania's Wage Payment and Collection Act, officers of a corporation can be personally liable for wage amounts not paid if they were involved in the decision not to pay. However, there are a great number of facts that would bear on your potential liability, many of which are not evident in your posting. Therefore, I would recommend that you contact an attorney immediately to thoroughly review the issues.

Christopher E. Ezold
Nancy O'Mara Ezold, P.C.
401 City Line Avenue, Suite 904
Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004
(610) 660-5585
CEzold@Ezoldlaw.com


posted Aug 1, 2002 08:39 AM [EST]

Answer to right to work when terminated?

Your non-compete may not be valid.

Your non-compete may not be valid. First, depending on the circumstances of the takeover of your old employer by your most recent employer, it is likely that your most recent employer had an obligation to get your signature on a new agreement. Second, depending on the reasons for your termination, the courts are likely to say that because your employer did not want your services, it cannot restrict you from offering them to others. You may have additional defenses based on the wording of the noncompete itself or the specifics of your former and current employment.


/Christopher E. Ezold/

Christopher E. Ezold
Nancy O'Mara Ezold, P.C.
401 City Line Avenue, Suite 904
Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004


posted Jul 18, 2002 4:25 PM [EST]

Answer to Discrimation-Termination of employment

You may possibly have a claim

You may have a claim of disability discrimination. However, there are two major obstacles that are immediately apparent. You have been out of work for 7 months; your employer had no duty to provide you with your job back after 12 weeks of leave. How long had you been back to work before you requested leave again? Second, if your employer could not afford, either financially or operationally, to provide you with a shortened work schedule, the law most likely will allow them to terminate you.

However, just because your claim has obstacles does not mean that it would be unsuccessful. I would need significantly more information before I could make an informed judgment about your claim. If you are interested in a consult, please contact me at the number or address below.


/Christopher E. Ezold/

Christopher E. Ezold
Nancy O'Mara Ezold, P.C.
401 City Line Avenue, Suite 904
Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004


posted Jul 18, 2002 4:21 PM [EST]

Answer to I was laid off and then someone else was hired 30 days later to fill my position.

Insufficient Information

Based solely on the information in your question, I must say that I see no illegal behavior on your former employer's part. In general, an employer in Pennsylvania can lay off or otherwise terminate any employee for any reason or no reason, and replace that employee at any time.

However, there are many factors not accounted for in your question. Were you replaced due to your age, race, gender, disability, national origin or other protected characteristic? Did you have an employment contract? Are you a union member? If you answer "no" to the above questions, then almost certainly, your employer has not behaved illegally.

Christopher E. Ezold
Nancy O'Mara Ezold, P.C.
401 City Line Ave., Suite 904
Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004
(610) 660-5585

posted Jun 24, 2002 11:49 AM [EST]

Answer to wrongful termination

Most likely

If you are an employee in an at-will employment state, such as Pennsylvania, you can be fired for any reason or no reason, with or without cause. You can even be fired for doing a good job. Unless you had an employment contract or you are a minority and no other employees are fired for violating the unknown policy, you would likely have no claim for your termination.

Christopher E. Ezold
Nancy O'Mara Ezold, P.C.
401 City Line Ave., Suite 904
Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004
(610) 660-5585

posted Jun 19, 2002 07:26 AM [EST]

Answer to LAY-OFF DUE TO RETALIATION

Chances unlikely

I am afraid that in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, unless you have a contract, you are an employee-at-will, meaning that you can be fired for any reason or no reason, except for discriminatory reasons or reasons violating public policy.

If the reason that you were terminated is the personal animosity of the comptroller, you have no legal claim. The company is allowed under the law to terminate you because one of its officers doesn't like you. However, if the comptroller does not like you because of your gender, age, race, religion, ethnic background, disability or other protected characteristic, you may have a claim.

Although unprofessional, being lied to about the reason for termination does not in and of itself constitute a legal claim.

/Christopher E. Ezold/

Christopher E. Ezold
Nancy O'Mara Ezold, P.C.
401 City Line Avenue, Suite 904
Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004
CEzold@Ezoldlaw.com

posted Apr 29, 2002 2:07 PM [EST]

Answer to Draw against commission payback awhen leaving a job?

Contract Review Necessary for Answer

I'm afraid no lawyer could answer your question without reviewing the contract first.

Further, to answer your question, more information about the normal course of dealing between your employer and its commissioned salespeople would also need to be answered.

In sum, you should consult a lawyer directly for answers to your questions.

/Christopher E. Ezold/

Christopher E. Ezold
Nancy O'Mara Ezold, P.C.
401 City Line Avenue,
Suite 904
Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004
(610) 660-5585
CEzold@Ezoldlaw.com


posted Apr 29, 2002 2:01 PM [EST]

Answer to Harassment through poor performance reviews

Need more information.

I cannot answer your question without more information.

Normally, in Pennsylvania, you are an employee-at-will; which means that you can be disciplined, hired or fired at any time, for any reason or for no reason at all.

However, there may be a basis to challenge your performance reviews. To know whether such a basis exists, I would need to know answers to the following questions:

1. Do you have an employment contract? If so, what does it state about discipline and performance reviews?

2. Are you being treated differently from other employees? If so, why?

3. Are your performance reviews being given to you in the normal course of business, or are they accelerated or ahead of schedule?

4. Do the performance reviews call into question your character or accuse you of crimes or gross incompetence?

Feel free to reply to these questions on this board or by email to my at CEzold@Ezoldlaw.com

Christopher E. Ezold, Esq.
Nancy O'Mara Ezold, P.C
401 City Line Avenue,
Suite 904
Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004
(610) 660-5585
CEzold@Ezoldlaw.com

posted Apr 22, 2002 11:19 AM [EST]

Answer to Employees not paid by owners for over 2 weeks.

There is a legal course of action.

Under the Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Act, wages are due you for the time you worked on the normal payday for such wages. The Act provides for significant penalties for failure to pay, including criminal liability and jail time.

However, the biggest problem you seem to have is that the company may have no money to pay you. If the company is going bankrupt, you will become another creditor to whom the company owes money in bankruptcy. You will have to make your claim as soon as possible, before other creditors get paid (i.e. vendors, banks and customers). The good news is that unpaid employees generally are first in line to get paid when a company goes bankrupt. If you need any more information, please feel free to contact me.

Christopher E. Ezold, Esq.
Nancy O'Mara Ezold, P.C.
401 City Line Avenue,
Suite 904
Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004
(610) 660-5585
CEzold@Ezoldlaw.com

posted Apr 22, 2002 11:11 AM [EST]

Answer to Unjustified demotion

Need more facts . . .

It is difficult to provide you with an answer to your question, as some facts are missing.

Pennsylvania is an employment-at-will state, which, for all practical purposes, means that employees have no right to work, nor any right to fair treatment, except in some limited circumstances.

If your husband's supervisor was treating your husband as a scapegoat, or was merely being irratinal, your husband may not have any legal recourse under Pennsylvania law, no matter how good his performance was. However, an attorney would need to know what was the nature of the "statement" his supervisor asked him to sign. If it was a legal document or one requiring that he swear an oath before a notary public, or one that would have had any impact on a governmental investigation, your husband may have some legal recourse under either federal or state law. However, each of the above scenarios include many other issues I have not discussed here. I suspect that there are other important facts that I am unaware of, so the above discussion is limited in scope.

I hope that I have been of some help; feel free to contact me with any further questions.

Christopher E. Ezold

Nancy O'Mara Ezold, P.C.
401 City Line Avenue, St. 904
Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004
(610) 660-5585
CEZold@Ezoldlaw.com

posted Apr 4, 2002 4:21 PM [EST]