Author Archive

Congratulations to Attorney Zachary Nahass for joining the York Day Nursery’s Board of Directors! York Day Nursery has been awarded a National Accreditation by the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs. Accreditation is a comprehensive, voluntary approach to improving the quality of a child care program. YDN accomplished accreditation by providing low child-to-teacher ratios, offering outstanding programs, hiring the finest staff possible, and creating strong partnerships between the school and its families. In addition to serving on the Board of Directors for York Day Nursery, Attorney Nahass is also a Board Member for Big Brothers Big Sisters of York &… read more »

Department of Education published the final version of the Title IX regulations On May 6, 2020, the Department of Education published the final version of the Title IX regulations. The final regulations specify how schools, colleges, and other Federally funded institutions must respond going forward to allegations of sexual harassment. These regulations require sexual harassment in education programs or activities to be addressed as a form of sex discrimination. The schools must respond supportively and promptly to anyone claiming to be sexually harassed, resolve allegations of sexual harassment promptly and accurately with due process protections to alleged sexual harrassment victims… read more »

COVID-19 Update: Amendment to the Closure Order of Non-Life-Sustaining Businesses One month after Governor Wolf issued an order to close all but “life sustaining” businesses, the Governor has amended his order to allow three business categories to re-open with limited operations. View Governor Wolf’s Amended Order Pennsylvania Department of Health Secretary Rachel Levine issued her own similar order. View Pennsylvania Department of Health Secretary Rachel Levine’s Order Governor Wolf and DOH Secretary Levine are authorizing the following businesses to conduct limited operations as long as they follow the state’s recommended guidance:  Limited construction activity may resume with strict compliance of… read more »

The Secretary of the Department of Health, Dr. Rachel Levine, signed an order to protect critical workers employed at businesses authorized to continue in-person operations during Governor Wolf’s closure order.  The order provides protections to keep employees at life-sustaining businesses safe and to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. The order requires employers to: Provide masks for employees and mandate that they be worn at all times during work, except when taking a break to eat or drink. (Employees may wear their own masks if the employer finds them to be compliant with the Department of Health and CDC guidance.) Prevent… read more »

COVID-19: What is a “life sustaining” business? In the wake of Governor Wolf’s March 19, 2020 Order mandating closures for COVID-19 mitigation, which was amended March 20, 2020, to close all but “life sustaining” businesses, many Pennsylvania companies have been left without clear guidance as to whether they are required to close or not. Some business, like hospitals and grocery stores, clearly fall in the “life sustaining” category, while others, like movie theatres and retail clothing stores, clearly do not.  For businesses that do not fall into such clear categories, the Commonwealth’s list of “life sustaining” businesses does not necessarily… read more »

On August 30, 3019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit handed CGA client George Matheis a significant victory in a case where he had been unlawfully barred from a plasma donation facility based on his use of a service dog. Mr. Matheis is represented by CGA attorney Zachary E. Nahass. While the anti-discrimination provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) explicitly apply to businesses such as laundromats, dry-cleaners, banks, barbershops, beauty shops, travel services, shoe repair services, funeral parlors, gas stations, offices of accountants, lawyers and other professionals, pharmacies, insurance offices, health care facilities, hospitals,… read more »

Attorney Zachary Nahass represented a retired police officer who had been the victim of unlawful discrimination when a plasma donation facility prevented him from donating due to his use of a service dog. Zach secured a favorable decision in federal court from the United States Third Circuit Court of Appeals by persuading it that a plasma donation facility is subject to the regulations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Third Circuit both affirmed and reversed in part the earlier decision of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, which had granted summary judgment in favor of the… read more »

Article by: Zachary E. Nahass For municipal officials who may never have been required to think about, much less participate in, traditional human resources tasks such as recruiting and hiring staff, developing and implementing employee policies, and receiving and processing employee complaints, engaging in those tasks may be daunting and unpleasant.  However, because most small and mid-sized municipalities do not have dedicated human resources personnel, but rely on their generalist administrators (who may themselves have limited experience in the area of human resources) to manage all aspects of employee relations, elected officials often find themselves in unfamiliar territory. Regardless the… read more »

The disparate nature of school district responses to claims of student bullying led to different results in recent decisions from the federal appellate courts. In a September 2014 decision, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the trial court’s ruling, which dismissed a student’s claims against the district related to bullying she experienced at the hands of her classmates. On the other hand, an August 2014 decision from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals found sufficient evidence to allow a student’s claims to proceed against the district and individual district officials for harassment she experienced at school. While the results… read more »