After graduating from college and law school with honors, Jacob M. Sitman spent a year learning about what it means to be successful in a courtroom by clerking for a civil trial judge. Since that time, he has honed his skills practicing, almost exclusively, Labor and Employment law. He worked at a labor and employment boutique firm, and then at a large Philadelphia law firm for more than a decade. Mr. Sitman is also the former Northampton County Assistant Solicitor for Labor & Employment Matters.
Now as a Shareholder and the Chair of the Firm’s Employment Law & Labor Relations Group, Mr. Sitman represents employers and executives in a wide array of employment law and traditional labor matters. A skilled litigator, Mr. Sitman often represents employers in federal and state court in defense of claims of discrimination, harassment, whistleblower, breach of contract, wrongful discharge and workplace safety claims filed in state and federal courts, with administrative agencies and in arbitration (union grievance, Act 111 and private employment claims), including but not limited to matters filed with the U.S. Department of Labor, EEOC, PHRC, NLRB and OSHA. He has also been successful in wage and hour, noncompete and trade secret litigation and appeals.
Mr. Sitman also counsels and trains business owners, executives and human resource managers in ways to reduce the risk of legal claims and how to make smart, strategic and cost-effective personnel-related decisions. He relies on his varied experience in matters of wage and hour compliance, reductions in force, family and medical leave, sexual harassment avoidance and investigations, employee benefits, disability accommodations, employee health and workplace safety, and labor-management relations, including collective bargaining, alleged unfair labor practice charges and union grievance arbitrations. Mr. Sitman drafts employment and severance agreements, noncompete agreements, employee handbooks and personnel policies of all kinds, including those dealing with social media and employee use of technology in the workplace.
He is an author and frequent speaker on labor and employment law topics for various chambers of commerce and industry trade groups, has been awarded a “preeminent” rating, and is regularly recognized by his peers as one of Pennsylvania’s leading attorneys practicing labor and employment law.
Jacob M. Sitman and Stephanie A. Kobal, representing the firm’s Employment Law & Labor Relations practice groups, will present to The Lehigh Valley Chapter of the Society For Human Resource Management (SHRMLV) annual conference on Thursday, October 19, 2023. Jake and Steph will address employment law’s most recent changes and common issues, as well as […]
Jacob M. Sitman of the firm’s Employment Law & Labor Relations Group and Peter E. Iorio of the firm’s Estate Planning & Administration Group will present to the Pennsylvania Assisted Living Association’s (PALA) annual fall conference on Tuesday, September 26, 2023. Jake and Pete will address the challenges faced by assisted living facility owners and […]
Jacob M. Sitman and Vanessa M. Ruggiero of the firm’s Employment Law & Labor Relations Group will be the keynote speakers at the 15th Annual Labor Law and Employment Law Summit of the Northeast PA Manufacturers & Employers Association (MAEA) on Thursday, September 28, 2023. Jake and Vanessa will address how recent legislation and court […]
by Jacob M. Sitman and Vanessa M. Ruggiero Last month, the United States Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced a national emphasis program aimed at preventing and reducing workplace hazards in warehouses, distribution centers, and high-risk retail establishments. This new OSHA program will inevitably result in more on-site inspections of the […]
Despite exposure to obnoxious, unprofessional and inappropriate workplace conduct, an employee recently lost a sexually hostile work environment claim because she failed to prove enough specific instances of severe or pervasive conduct. On May 11, 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that conduct, which many would consider inappropriate and […]