PRINTER'S NO. 2398
No. 1797 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY COHEN, HELM, SURRA, CALTAGIRONE, FRANKEL, LEACH,
MURT, SIPTROTH, K. SMITH, YOUNGBLOOD, KORTZ AND FREEMAN,
AUGUST 22, 2007
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LABOR RELATIONS, AUGUST 22, 2007
AN ACT
1 Prohibiting an employer from requiring an employee from
2 attending a meeting to communicate opinions on religious and
3 political matters.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Short title.
7 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Employee
8 Meeting Act.
9 Section 2. Definitions.
10 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
11 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
12 context clearly indicates otherwise:
13 "Employer." An employer or the employer's agent,
14 representative or designee.
15 Section 3. Prohibition of mandatory meetings on politics and
16 religion.
17 (a) Meeting.--No employer may require its employees to
18 attend a meeting or participate in any communications with the
1 employer, the purpose of which is to communicate the employer's
2 opinion about religious or political matters.
3 (b) Retaliation.--No employer shall discharge, discipline or
4 penalize, or threaten to discharge, discipline or penalize any
5 employee as follows:
6 (1) As a means of requiring an employee to attend a
7 meeting or participate in communications under subsection
8 (a).
9 (2) Because the employee or person acting on behalf of
10 the employee makes a good faith report, verbally or in
11 writing, of a violation or a suspected violation of this
12 section. This subsection shall not apply if the employee
13 knows that the report is false.
14 (c) Notice.--Employers shall post a notice to employees of
15 employee rights under this section. The posting shall be in a
16 place normally reserved for employment-related notices and
17 commonly frequented by employees.
18 Section 4. Enforcement.
19 (a) Civil action.--Any aggrieved employee may enforce the
20 provisions of this act by a civil action brought no later than
21 90 days after the date of the alleged violation in the court for
22 the judicial district where the violation is alleged to have
23 occurred or where the employer has its principal office. The
24 court may award a prevailing employee all appropriate relief,
25 including rehiring or reinstatement of the employee to the
26 employee's former position, back pay and reestablishment of any
27 employee benefits to which the employee would otherwise have
28 been eligible if such violation had not occurred. The court
29 shall award a prevailing employee treble damages, together with
30 reasonable attorney fees and costs.
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1 (b) Rights.--Nothing in this section shall be construed to
2 limit an employee's right to bring a cause of action against an
3 employer for wrongful termination or to diminish or impair the
4 rights of a person under any collective bargaining agreement.
5 Section 10. Effective date.
6 This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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