Employment Law

Most states laws provide that employment is at-will, which means that you can be fired for any reason or no reason at all. However, there are many exceptions to at-will employment, particularly where a person falls into a protected class, whether it is their age, sex, race, religion or a protected activity, like whistleblowing. An employer that has acted for an improper or illegal reason almost never tells the fired employee why he was really fired. Instead, many times, unscrupulous employers will manufacture a false reason for the wrongful termination.

Further, it is sometimes not only the person being discriminated against that suffers from adverse job action. Employers that act illegally can also retaliation against people that oppose illegal practices. An employee may suffer retaliation, including a termination, where the employee opposed discrimination or reported inappropriate or harassing conduct.
Employment cases also arise where there are disputes about payment. Employers may refuse to pay overtime, or alternatively, refuse or fail to pay wages. In such instances, the employee may have a legal claim.

We have handled a wide variety of employment cases, stemming from simple failures to pay overtime, to more sophisticated cases involving discrimination, harassment or retaliation. In several employment cases, we have successfully proven that our opponents either hid or destroyed evidence.

Examples of cases that we have handled or would consider handling include:

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Age Discrimination
Civil Rights
Disabilities
Equal pay for Equal Work
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
Hostile Work Environment
Pregnancy Discrimination
Non-compete Agreements

Racial Discrimination
Retaliation
Securities Arbitration (FINRA)
Sexual Harassment
Sexual Discrimination
Religious Discrimination
Unpaid Overtime
Wage and Hour Claims
Wrongful Termination

Discrimination

Not all terminations are the result of discrimination. In fact, the vast majority of employers, on a day-to-day basis, act properly and do not discriminate. However, that is not always the case. And, as soon as people can make distinctions, whether it is a different sex, race, religion or age, the possibility of discrimination exists. When a person has been terminated from his job, and the stated reason for the termination makes little or no sense, the true, hidden reason may be a discriminatory one.

We have handled a wide variety of discrimination cases, and have successfully proven that our opponents either hid or destroyed evidence.

Examples of cases that we have handled or would consider handling include:

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Age Discrimination
Disabilities Hostile Work Environment
Pregnancy Discrimination

Racial Discrimination
Sexual Discrimination
Sexual Harassment
Religious Discrimination
Wrongful Termination

Whistleblowing

Blowing the whistle on fraud or corruption, or even simply cooperating in an investigation into it, can be a complicated and difficult proposition. A whistleblower often speaks out in an attempt to correct what the employee has perceived is an illegal or improper business practice. The whistleblower does so, not for glory or money, but out of legitimate concern for their company.

In some cases, rather than being met with a promotion or even a simple thanks, the employee is identified as a troublemaker and is retaliated against. Retaliation can take many forms and, at times, it can include being terminated, actually or constructively. There are Federal and State laws that can provide the whistleblower with a legal claim should they suffer from retaliation stemming from their protected activity. State laws vary, some providing greater protections than others. There are numerous Federal laws protecting whistleblowers, including the whistleblower protections afforded to employees of publicly traded companies in the Sarbanes Oxley Act.

Another form of whistleblowing results from fraud perpetrated on the government. Qui tam lawsuits allow private citizens to sue on behalf of the government, even though the person has suffered no personal harm. Qui tam lawsuits have resulted in recoveries for the U.S. government of over $20 billion since 1986, when qui tam laws were strengthened. The qui tam whistleblower is ordinarily provided an award, collecting anywhere from 16 to 30 percent of whatever the government recovers. An individual’s reward can be anywhere from thousands of dollars, into the millions.

Qui tam whistleblowers must file a lawsuit as quickly as possible since the government normally only rewards the person that was “first to file”.

Examples of cases that we have handled or would consider handling include:

Federal Whistleblower Claims
Sarbanes Oxley Whistleblower Claims
State Whistleblowing Claims
Qui Tam whistleblower Claims

Our Awards

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The Pennsylvanian
1100 Liberty Avenue, Suite C6
Pittsburgh, PA 15222

Phone: 412.434.0555
Toll Free: 800.553.4448
Fax: 888.563.7549
Email: jarchinaco@archlawgroup.com