The Third Circuit made clear that the test to determine whether a police officer in Pennsylvania is entitled to civil service protections, is not the number of hours worked but rather, whether the officer is “available for full employment – that is, on call at any and all times.” (Townsend/Deforte v. Borough of Worthington et…
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has written the ending chapter of a bike race accident case stretching back to May of 2015. The finale is a lesson in caution. Municipalities cannot rely on releases alone in hosting, allowing or condoning third party events on municipal property (including roads). In Degliomini v. City of Philadelphia, a cyclist…
On October 18, 2016, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court handed down a landmark decision in Pennsylvania State Education Association v. Commonwealth et al. – extending a constitutional right of informational privacy to public school employees with respect to their home addresses. As a result of the Court’s ruling, school districts are prohibited from releasing the home…
Supreme Court Drills Down on Hydraulic Fracturing and Vacates Several Sections of the Oil and Gas Act On September 28, 2016, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decided yet another milestone decision involving the Commonwealth’s controversial Oil and Gas Act. Described by some as a message to the oil and gas industry, the Court’s decision has important…