Thomas
Jefferson Univ. Hospital v. Dept. of Labor and Industry – Cmwlth. Court –
January 6, 2016
The
purpose of the Personnel Files Act (PFA), 43 P.S. 1321 – 1324, “is to
acknowledge the right of both public and private employees to review files held
by their employers that contain information about themselves[.]” Bangor Area
Educ. Ass’n v. Angle, 720 A.2d 198, 202 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1998). Section 2 of the Act provides in relevant
part: “An employer shall, at reasonable times, upon request of an employee,
permit that employee . . . to inspect his or her own personnel files used to
determine his or her own qualifications for employment, promotion, additional
compensation, termination or disciplinary action.” 43 P.S. § 1322
(emphasis added). Section 1 of the Act, defines an “[e]mployee]” as “[a]ny
person currently employed, laid off with reemployment rights or on leave
of absence. [emphasis added) The term
‘employee’ shall not include applicants for employment or any other person.” 43
P.S. § 1321.
The
court rejected all of the employer’s several arguments that the terminated
employee was not “currently employed” and thus had no rights under the PFA. The court discussed rules of statutory
interpretation, legislative history, et al.
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