Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Pennsylvania

Im not sure if this is the right category to post in but hopefully it will lead me in the right direction. I am currently involved in a civil suit against a former employer for non payment of minimum wage. I live in PA but worked in Ohio so I had to get an attorney in Ohio to handle the case. I have a diagnosed panic disorder and depression. This civil suit is going on a year now and there have been comments made about me, I have the constant fear of retaliation from my former employer and his friends. This has driven me at times to breaking down into full blown attacks. Is there anyway to file against him personally, not with the suit against his business? I wasn't sure if the laws are different from Ohio to Pennsylvania. Thank you


Asked on 6/26/11, 11:40 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Andrew Solomon Law Office of Andrew A. Solomon

Unfortunately, there is almost no way for you to recover under PA law. The only way I am aware of is a workers comp claim alleging a mental injury against your prior employer. These cases are extemely difficult to win and require ashowing that the work conditins that led to your leaving employment, were extremely abnormal, unusual and oppressive. Simply suffering psychiatric symptoms and conditions as a result of the stress of suing yuor former employer over wages is not recoverable in PA. Generally, any suit in PA for infliction of emotional distress requires either a physical injury or physical impact. Intentional infliction of emotional distress requires truly outrageous conduct on the part of your former employer intended to cause emotional distress. These cases require very high standards of proof. I As the conduct occurred in Ohio, and I am a PA lawyer, you should ask your Ohio attorney about Ohio law. I doubt it is much different then PA law, but I am not certain.

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Answered on 6/26/11, 4:30 pm


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