Legal Question in Employment Law in Pennsylvania

Re: Notice of Determination

You asked if you had a clearance to file a wrongful termination claim.

The information you provided is sparse. The state department of labor in this case seems to have only made a determination regarding eligibility for purposes of unemployment insurance/unemployment compensation. This means that while your employer challenged your unemployment claim the state has determined you will collect unemployment and that your employer's account will be charged.

Employment in Pennsylvania, as in most states, is at will. This means an employee can quit or an employer can terminate and employee for any reason or no reason whatsoever. That is unless there was an unlawful motivation behind the adverse action such as harrassment or discrimination or otherwise illegal purpose. If you can substantiate that you were wrongfully terminated for a protected reason then you could have a claim for wrongful termination.

But, before filing a claim for wrongful termination it is important to consider all aspects of the employment. An employer can and will look for alternative reasons for terminating an employee once a claim has been filed. As long as a reason is baed on business judgement and is supportable by the defendant then the respondent employer will prevail. An employer cannot trump up charges and can conduct a smear campaign but is allowed to conduct a legitimate employment investigation in order to prosecute its defense.

Hope this answered your question. If you still believe you have been wrongfully terminated then please contact me and we can discuss this matter further. I have substantial experience on both sides of wrongful termination claims and enjoy handling these issues.

Regards,

Roger Traversa

email: [email protected]