Posts Tagged ‘Wayne County’

Paul and his family lived in Harrisburg. Paul worked for the Reliable Car Company and had become one of their best salesmen. Paul’s family had a second home in Wayne County, and he always felt it would be nice to move up to that area on a full-time basis.

As fortune would have it, Paul was contacted by a local Wayne County car dealer and was offered a five-year guaranteed contract to come sell cars in the Poconos. After a lengthy discussion, Paul decided to take the offer and his family moved up on a permanent basis to the area.

At first Paul did very well but because of the down turn in the economy, his sales fell off sharply. Paul was notified by the owner of the company that he was going to be laid off for economic reasons.

Issue: Does Paul have any course of action against his new employer?

Answer: Yes. While Pennsylvania is an Employment-At-Will state, which means that the employment relationship is presumed to be terminable by either party at any time with or without notice and with or without cause, there are exceptions. One is where there is an express contract. In this case, Paul was guaranteed five years of employment at a base salary. Should the employer insist on Paul’s termination, they will have to pay him for the full five years what his base salary would have been had he continued working.

Disclaimer: The above article is for instructive purposes only and each case is fact sensitive. Consultation with an attorney should be obtained instead of reliance upon the legal issues discussed in this column.

The citizens of Wayne County were somewhat alarmed when they just received a letter from Santa Claus. The letter stated, “I will no longer be able to serve your area on Christmas Eve.” There have been recent changes in my union contract renegotiated by the North American Elves local 404.

I, Mr. Santa Claus, will now only serve Canada, Wisconsin, Michigan and New England.

Do not be concerned, though, because your children will be in good hands with my replacement, my seventh cousin by my second wife, from the South Pole, Bubba Claus. Rest assured my determined goal of delivering toys to all the good boys and girls, despite a few differences between us. Some of these differences are.

Bubba’s sleigh is pulled, not by reindeer, buy by floppy eared, flying coon dogs. The last time I lent Bubba a deer, the poor things ended up resting over Bubba’s fireplace.

Have no fear that the Grinch might steal presents from Bubba as Bubba has a gun rack in his sleigh and a bumper sticker that reads, “these toys insured by Smith and Wesson.”

Instead of milk and cookies, Bubba Claus prefers that children leave him Dr. Pepper and pork skins on the fireplace. Bubba doesn’t smoke a pipe. He does dip a little snuff, so please have a spit can handy.

You won’t hear Bubba yell On Comet, On Cupid, On Donner and Blitzen . . . when Bubba Claus arrives, instead you’ll hear On Earnhardt, On Wallace, On Martin, hope you crash, Gordon.

You will not hear ho, ho, ho; instead you will hear yehaw, and you are likely to hear Bubba’s elves respond, “I heard that.”

A word of caution, Bubba doesn’t wear a seatbelt, you better turn away when he bends over to put presents under the tree. “Plumber’s cleavage” is not a pretty sight.

Here’s wishing you all a great holiday season.

Testimony concluded Wednesday in a federal trial related to the sexual assault of an 86-year-old woman four years ago at an assisted-living facility in Wyoming County.

The former Nicholson woman, now 90 and living in Tennessee, is seeking more than $75,000 from Country Living Personal Care Home, Nicholson, and its owner, Shirley D. Sheridan, of Montrose, resulting from the sexual assault on Feb. 27, 2002.

It is The Times-Tribune’s policy not to identify sexual assault victims.

The woman, a resident of the home, was sexually assaulted in her room by Daniel Statham, then 31 and also a resident of the home. Mr. Statham, who is mentally handicapped, was a sexually violent predator convicted in 1995 of aggravated indecent assault involving a 14-year-old girl.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Blewitt, who presided at the three-day long trial, gave lawyers a month to submit proposed findings of fact in the case. He did not indicate when he will rule.

The woman’s complaint alleges the home and Mrs. Sheridan were negligent by disregarding her safety and rights, leading to the assault.

The victim’s attorney, Sean McDonough, said Mrs. Sheridan knew Mr. Statham was a convicted sexual offender and neglected to inform the staff about it. Mrs. Sheridan testified that she was not told about his Wayne County conviction and would not have agreed to house him if she knew.

Attorney Eugene Hickey, who represented the care home and Mrs. Sheridan, said the home was not at fault and Mr. Statham was “dumped” on the facility.

Mr. Statham pleaded guilty in February 2003 in Wyoming County Court to aggravated indecent assault in the case and was sentenced to five to 10 years in a state prison.