Pennsylvania Superior Court holds that there is no right to a jury trial under the Pennsylvania Whistleblower Law.

The plaintiff appealed the court’s decision striking the plaintiff’s request for a jury trial on his claims under the Pennsylvania Whistleblower Law following a bench trial that resulted in a verdict in favor of the plaintiff’s former employer. Specifically, the plaintiff argued that he was entitled to a jury trial pursuant to the statute and, if not, the Pennsylvania Constitution afforded him the right to a jury trial. The Pennsylvania Superior Court, however, rejected the plaintiff’s arguments and confirmed that there was no right to a jury trial under the Pennsylvania Whistleblower Law. In so holding, the court noted that the Pennsylvania Whistleblower Law makes no mention of a “jury”; rather, it refers to the relief that can be awarded by “the court” on four occasions in the statute. The court further noted that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has found that there was no right to a jury trial under the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, which used similar language concerning the remedies available under that Act. Moreover, the court also determined that the Pennsylvania Constitution did not provide to a right to a jury trial for claims under the Pennsylvania Whistleblower Law, reasoning that such a claim did not exist at common law.

Case Law Alerts, 1st Quarter, January 2015