Category: Winter 2013/2014 Pennsylvania Legal Update

A worker who refilised to wear a name tag bearing a religious “mission statement’ lost the right to collect unemployment benefits after the court found that he had quit his job and that he had no clear religious beliefs that were violated in the workplace. The worker had been employed for almost two years at […]

  A Philadelphia man sentenced to probation in Philadelphia’s “Gun Court” persuaded the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that the Gillin Court Tules were illegal. Philadelphia’s Gun Court is not actually a court; instead, it is simply a program designed to fast track trial and sentencing in gun possession crimes. The program was designed to decrease the number […]

Pennsylvania law permits municipalities to choose a preferred ambulance company and to appropriate public funds for ambulance and emergency medical services. But when a Pennsylvania township effectively banned all competing ambulance companies from doing business in the township, it exceeded its powers under the law. The township had passed an ordinance designating the township’s ambulance […]

Shortly after Januагу 1, county delinquent tax collection authorities will start notifying some Pennsylvania property owners that they are delinquent in the payment of their real estate taxes. Eventually, that real estate will be sold at tax sale if the taxes remain unpaid. If you receive a delinquent tax notice in the upcoming months, don’t […]

Many Pennsylvania laws affect the power, responsibilities, and liabilities of law enforcement authorities who engage in high speed chases. A recent Pennsylvania appeals case clarified one issue relating to high-speed chases-the liability of a police office to a third party injured as a result of the chase. In the case, police officers pursued a mildly […]

Very recent changes to Pennsylvania inheritance tax law make it more affordable for families to pass on interests in family businesses. Businesses in existence for five years, with book value assets worthless than $5 million, and with fewer than 50 full-time employees can take advantage of the new law. All owners must be family members. […]