Jonathan Bloom focuses his practice on employment and labor law, representing public and private companies, governmental entities and executives in all aspects of employment law and litigation. Jonathan is a former member of the board of directors of Meritas, an international affiliate of law firms in 200 markets in the United States and worldwide.
As a labor and employment lawyer, Jonathan provides advice and counsel to employers throughout the country (and, through our Meritas affiliation, to clients’ business operations around the globe) in a wide range of industries. He partners with clients to provide direction and step-by-step counsel in an effort to proactively address and manage labor and employment problems. He also lectures on a variety of labor and employment-related topics.
Jon has extensive experience in a broad array of labor and employment matters under local, state and federal law, appearing before federal and state courts and agencies, including the Department of Labor, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and in arbitration proceedings. He handles matters involving Title VII, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), whistleblower laws, defamation, sexual harassment, wrongful discharge, breach of contract, restrictive covenants and trade secrets, pay-to-play practices and executive transition issues. He regularly provides advice to employers regarding reductions in force, disciplinary and termination matters, hiring, compensation, wage and hour compliance, the development and administration of human resources policies, Internet and email issues, sexual harassment prevention and investigations, other internal complaints and investigations, union-related issues, affirmative action, drug testing, workplace violence, employment issues involved in mergers and acquisitions, executive employment issues and other issues involving employees. Jon's practice focuses on time-sensitive issues and proceedings critical to the company's ongoing business, including temporary restraining orders, injunctions, labor unrest, organizing campaigns, workplace violence and other issues.
Jon also has an active practice representing parties in so-called “employee departure” or “competition” cases, litigating non-competition, non-solicitation and confidentiality agreements, along with trade secret issues. He regularly advises employers with regard to the enforcement of restrictive covenants and other agreements designed to protect the employer’s confidential information and trade secrets. He represents clients in both litigated and non-litigated matters involving movement of employees between competitors, appropriation of trade secrets, flipping customers, employee “raiding,” and the drafting and negotiation of employment and other agreements containing restrictive covenants. Clients call on Jon when their employees leave to form a competitive business, join a competitor or solicit business and when hiring a competitor’s employees. He also designs agreements, policies and procedures aimed at protecting the client’s intellectual property, confidential information and relationships with the client’s customer base and workforce. Jonathan’s substantial employee departure/restrictive covenant practice serves clients in many industries, including health care, insurance, financial services, manufacturing, communications, pharmaceutical, education, retail and others.
Because of his litigation and management-side experience, Jon takes a business-oriented approach to the unique legal issues that arise in the workplace, achieving solutions that minimize liability and control the ever-increasing costs of litigation. He is a member of the firm’s nationally recognized alternative dispute resolution (ADR) practice group and designs employment ADR programs for clients. Jon actively promotes ADR strategies (including mediation), where appropriate, both prior to and during litigation, to achieve the clients’ business objectives in a cost-effective way.
Jon also represents Pennsylvania’s Senate and House of Representatives, Legislative Leaders and individual legislators on a wide variety of high-profile cases to protect the Legislature’s institutional interests. His constitutional litigation work has included defending the Pennsylvania Legislative Branch in a variety of contexts, including the establishment of gaming in Pennsylvania, the institution of hate crime legislation, judicial and legislative pay raises, the reform of property tax schemes, the constitutional amendment process, child witness testimony, the right to a jury trial and bail, statewide court funding issues, legislators’ free speech rights, disputes involving the Sunshine Law legislative speech or debate privilege, and numerous other legislative challenges. He has appeared and argued before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in numerous constitutional matters.