Paul D. Snitzer practices in the area of labor and employment law. Mr. Snitzer regularly advises clients on all issues relating to the employer-employee relationship, including imposition of termination and lesser discipline, harassment investigations, union-management relations, plant closings, and creation and distribution of personnel policies. Mr. Snitzer also represents clients in litigation, through jury verdict, arising out of the employment relationship. Mr. Snitzer represents employers before administrative agencies including the National Labor Relations Board and the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. Mr. Snitzer writes frequently on issues of importance to the labor-management community, and has been published in The Labor Lawyer, Construction Executive, The Legal Intelligencer and the Health Care Dispute Resolution Manual. Mr. Snitzer is a magna cum laude graduate of Villanova University School of Law in 1991, where he was a managing editor of the Villanova Law Review, and a magna cum laude graduate of Hobart and William Smith Colleges.

Areas Of Practice

Labor and employment

Representative Matters

Lead labor and employment counsel to a leading national insurance company. Provide day-to-day advice on all issues relating to employee relations, including imposition of employee discipline, accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act, leave of absence under the Family Medical Leave Act, harassment investigation, drafting of personnel policies and employee training.
Represented employer in case of race discrimination brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and by an employee. Obtained dismissal of the case by the United States District Court for the District of Maryland based on the employee's fraudulent conduct during discovery proceedings, and obtained a sanction award against the employee for his litigation misconduct.
Obtained judgment from Pennsylvania state court in favor of employer that was sued on claims brought by employee for unlawful "eavesdropping" under Pennsylvania's Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act.
Handled numerous union arbitration claims, including discharge claim brought by employee who was terminated for engaging in vandalism, which discharge was upheld, and breach of contract claims.
Obtained summary judgment for national retailer that was sued on race discrimination in a claim brought in Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Obtained summary judgment for historic private school that was sued for race discrimination in a claim brought in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Prosecuted former employees of technology company for breaching their non-competition covenants.
Regularly and successfully defend clients in administrative proceedings before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission.
Regularly represent employers in labor and employment issues arising during corporate transactions, including issues under the WARN Act, employment contracts and union representation.
Represented hospital association in connection with its efforts to develop and implement a new reference checking mechanism for member hospitals.
Obtained, in a discrimination case assigned to Duane Morris by the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, a $600,000 verdict on behalf of employee who claimed race discrimination and retaliation.

Admissions

Pennsylvania
United States Courts of Appeals for the Third and Fourth Circuits
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania

Education

Villanova University School of Law, J.D., 1991

Experience

Dechert Price & Rhoads, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Associate, 1991-1999

Board Memberships

Boys and Girls Clubs of Philadelphia

Civic and Charitable Activities

Personnel Committee, United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania

Selected Publications

"No Rehire and No Comment Clauses in Severance Agreements," Law Journal Newsletters, December 2008
"Surveillance and Other Responses to Intermittent Leave Under the FMLA," The Legal Intelligencer, November 21, 2008
Co-author, "The Debate Over Reference Checks: What to share about former employees," Modern Healthcare, June 2008
Co-author, "The NLRB in 2007: Will the 'Roll-Backs' of the Bush Board Survive the 2008 Election?" Employment Law Strategist, April 2008
"Pregnancy and Potentially Hazardous Workplaces May Bring Catch-22," The Legal Intelligencer, January 14, 2008 (reprinted in New Jersey Law Journal, November 3, 2008)
"In Employment, Peer Review Privilege Is Not Absolute," Health Law 360, January 9, 2008
"New Union Tactics: Mock Funerals, Lies About Dirty Laundry and Other Low Blows," Modern Healthcare, December 2006
"The Pregnant Employee in the Hazardous Workplace," Employment Law Strategist, January 2008
Co-author, "Employed Physicians and Independent Contractors: A Brief Overview," The American Health Lawyers Association's Health Lawyers Weekly, October 20, 2006
"A Parrot, a Racist and a Slap-Happy Nurse Enter a Hospital," The Legal Intelligencer, January 10, 2006
Co-author, "'Speak no evil' is a risky policy," Modern Healthcare, December 5, 2005
"New Statute Frees Employers to Talk About Former Employees," The Legal Intelligencer, June 21, 2005
"Union Salts - Legally Spying on Your Workplace," Construction Executive, November 2003
Co-Author, "Counsel Interaction with Government Agencies and Fiscal Intermediaries," Health Care Dispute Resolution Manual: Techniques for Avoiding Litigation, December 2001
"Courts Making Hard Decisions in Health Care Industry," The Legal Intelligencer, August 9, 2001
"New EEOC Guidelines for Compliance of Waivers of Age Discrimination Claims," The Legal Intelligencer, November 23, 1998
"The Foreign Corporation in the United States: Here To Do Business, To Discriminate, or To Do Both?" The Labor Lawyer, American Bar Association, Winter/Spring 1998
"Employer Free Speech...The Emergence of a Conflict Between the Board and the Circuits," The Labor Lawyer, American Bar Association, Summer 1995

Selected Speaking Engagements

"Dealing with Problem Employees; Avoiding or Making a Discrimination Claim," Pennsylvania Bar Institute, April 20, 2007
"New Reference Immunity Statute In Pennsylvania," Council for Medical Rehabilitation, September 14, 2006
"Sound Hiring Practices," Pennsylvania Employment Law Institute, April 2006
"Reference Immunity in the Healthcare Environment," Delaware Valley Healthcare Council, April 2006
"Employee Leaves of Absence," Hospital Association of Pennsylvania, March 2006
"Employee Discipline and Termination," Hospital Association of Pennsylvania, November 2005
Speaker, "Payroll Management in Pennsylvania," seminar, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, November 29, 2000