More on PA Court Ruling Requiring Employer Legal Representation

In a recent article–“Pennsylvania Employers Must Have Legal Counsel at Unemployment Compensation Proceedings“–Jackson Lewis has provided a report here on what is happening when employers appear unrepresented by an attorney before the Unemployment Compensation Board of Reivew, pursuant to the recent court ruling in Harkness v. Unemployment compensation Board of Review (PA. Cmwlth. 2005). (See previous post here.) The firm reports that the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry is strictly interpreting the Commonwealth Court’s decision to prohibit any self-representation by employers at unemployment compensation proceedings by either “refusing to proceed with a hearing when an attorney is not present and continuing the hearing to a later date, or proceeding with the hearing but prohibiting the employer from offering any evidence other than testimony in direct response to questions by the unemployment compensation referee.”