Bernard Tully Personal Injury Lawyer. Phone: 412-281-8700
A client called in the other day asking if their employer could fire them for having COVID-19. Unfortunately, Pennsylvania is an at-will employment state, which means that you serve at the will of your employer. Your employer can let you go at any time, as long as it’s not for a discriminatory reason. Therefore, the Coronavirus would not be covered under that situation.
You can thus be fired by your employer if you have COVID-19 unless you can show that you were covered for a severe case of Coronavirus under the Americans with Disabilities Act. We don’t practice that area to law.
However, there is some good news here! For small businesses that have under a certain number of employees, you would be covered under the Payroll Paycheck Protection Plan that the government has given as part of the stimulus package. This allows employers to get a loan that is forgiven for payroll for at least a 60-day period of time, which will go to employees that can’t go into the office due to restrictions implemented by the governor. I am hopeful that this is the reason why employers will not let staff go during this time.
Our main focus is honesty. We always preach it. We are passionate about trying to help any injured person or family member with their case. Questions about the blog? CALL US!
Bernard Tully Allegheny County Personal Injury and Coronavirus Death/Employment Lawyer. Phone: 412-281-8700 and 1-800-518-0050