News & Insights

What’s the Law? Attorney-Client Privilege and Work Product Doctrine in Internal Investigations

Archer attorneys, Peter Frattarelli and Simone Adkins, co-authored the New Jersey Lawyer article, “What’s the Law? Attorney-Client Privilege and Work Product Doctrine in Internal Investigations.” The attorney-client privilege analysis is never an easy one when internal investigations are conducted. In their article, Peter and Simone discuss navigating the complex waters of internal investigations when employers rely on the assistance of counsel. Often questions and confusion revolve around knowing what aspects of the investigation may be protected by the attorney-client privilege or work product doctrine, and outside the scope of discovery. New Jersey courts have evaluated this issue and developed an outline of how to address these situations. To read the complete article, click here. ...read more

Delaware Court Latest to Point the Twitter Finger: Tweets Can Constitute Actionable Expressions of Fact

Delaware Court Latest to Point the Twitter Finger_ Tweets Can Constitute Actionable Expressions of Fact By: Amy Pearl, John C. Connell, and Peter L. Frattarelli, MLCR (January 2022) ...read more

Suit Over Flatulent Pork Roll Employee Raises Rare ADA Claim

Peter Frattarelli, the chair of the labor and employment department at Archer & Greiner in Haddonfield, was quoted in this New Jersey Law Journal article.   ...read more

No Notice, No Duty: The Third Circuit Clarifies When Employers Must Accommodate a Disability

“The disability-discrimination and medical-leave laws are shields against discrimination, not get-out-of-discipline-free cards.” That is how the Third Circuit opened its recent decision in Hileman v. West Penn Allegheny Health System, Inc. (3d Cir. July 20, 2026), affirming dismissal of an employee’s case against her former employer. The point drives the ruling: before an employer must accommodate an employee, the employee generally must disclose the disability and clearly ask for help. An employee who stays silent until they are facing discipline cannot recast that discipline as discrimination. This decision is a useful roadmap for employers as to when the duty to accommodate a disability is triggered. ...read more

Reminder: Significant Changes to New Jersey’s Family Leave Act Take Effect on July 17, 2026

All New Jersey employees face a significant change to employee rights under the New Jersey Family Leave Act (“NJFLA”), beginning on Friday, July 17, 2026. Although much of the fanfare of these changes is related to the process of applying this to more small businesses, other changes involving which employees are eligible for NJFLA leave will affect all employers. These changes – which are not merely rules or regulations but an amendment to the law itself – take effect on July 17th, and businesses should be prepared to feel the impact immediately. ...read more

Pennsylvania Federal Court is Latest Court Refusing to Halt FTC's Non-Compete Ban

In late July 2024, a Pennsylvania federal judge declined an employer’s request to enjoin the Federal Trade Commission’s non-compete Rule, which imposes a comprehensive ban on non-competes with most employees. This ruling is the latest court that declined to stop the FTC near-total ban on non-compete agreements, which is still set to take effect on September 4, 2024. Despite this, other federal courts will have more opportunities before September 4th to stop the FTC’s ban, so stay tuned. In this case, ATS Tree Services LLC v. Federal Trace, a tree-care company with twelve employees, who required its employees to sign non-compete agreements, sought to stop the FTC’s non-compete prohibition Rule. The tree company’s agreements prohibited the employees from working for direct competitors following separation in the geographic area the employee worked for one year.The court denied the injunction for two reasons: a lack of “irreparable harm” and an unlikelihood of winning the case on the merits. As to irreparable harm, the Court ruled that costs of compliance with the Rule – such as the expenses of sending out notices, attorney’s fees, and having to scale back specialized training – were nothing more than minimal costs, and were not sufficient to justify an injunction. The Court also felt that the risk of losing employees was merely speculative and a “risk” of irreparable harm is not enough. Perhaps more significant is the second part of the Court’s analysis, which concluded that the tree company was not likely to be successful on the merits of its claim that the FTC was acting outside of its authority. The Court found it “clear that the FTC is empowered to make both procedural and substantive rules as is necessary to prevent unfair methods of competition.” Further, the Court found that it has been well-demonstrated that Congress intended “to retain the existing authority empowering the FTC to prevent unfair methods of competition, and the discretion to determine the appropriate mechanisms to accomplish that directive.” In reaching this finding, the Court relied upon the FTC’s historical substantive rulemaking and Congress’s inaction of limiting the FTC’s substantive authority in the past, despite the opportunities to do so. Finally, the Court ruled that overlapping jurisdiction between state and federal governments in in this area also does not preclude the FTC from issuing rules to prevent unfair methods of competition. This is so, according to the Court, because parallel state laws are not entirely preempted, and conflicting state laws are rightfully preempted as the FTC is empowered to prevent “unfair methods of competition.” As of now, the Rule will take effect on September 04, 2024. Yet, as we have explained, several other legal challenges are pending, and one of more of them is expected to be decided before September 4th. So, an injunction or hold on the FTC’s Rule may still happen before the deadline. Our firm has issued a number of prior alerts on FTC’s Non-Compete Rule. Please see:  ...read more

Harassment and Discrimination in the Workplace

In speaking to New Jersey Business Magazine about predictive measures every employer must have regarding harassment and discrimination in the workplace, partner Peter L. Frattarelli spoke about formal procedures. Chair of Archer's Labor & Employment Group, Peter said, "Employers  need to lay out a complaint procedure that employees can use to the extent they feel that they’re a witness to a harasser and/or they are a victim of harassment. Employees should be allowed to complain to pretty much anybody in the organization who’s in a position of authority." ...read more

Lawyers Weigh 'Right to Disconnect' During Remote Work

In the ALM.COM article, "Lawyers Weigh 'Right to Disconnect' During Remote Work," partner Peter Frattarelli was asked for his thoughts on employers after-hours communications with their employees. Some jurisdictions are considering penalties for bosses who require workers to reply to their late-night calls, emails and text messages. There is a measure pending in New Jersey's General Assembly establishing a fine for employers who continually do this. ...read more

Unanswered Questions on Remote Work Complicate NJ Wage Transparency Law, Litigators Say

Labor & Employment Group Chair, Peter L. Frattarelli, spoke with the New Jersey Law Journal regarding the wage transparency legislation saying he will advise clients on two main priorities to meet before New Jersey’s version of the law takes effect on June 1. He noted employers need to be ready to comply with the new law by the effective date, adding that any pay disparity between employees needs to be justified because of this new legislation and existing pay equity law. However, there are unanswered questions about the state’s version of the law which need more clarity. ...read more

Peter Frattarelli to be Interviewed on New Jersey 101.5 Town Hall Broadcast

Peter Frattarelli, Chair of Archer’s Labor and Employment Group will be interviewed on New Jersey 101.5 Town Hall broadcast, hosted by Eric Scott, scheduled for Thursday, November 11th at 7:00pm. This program will  focus on vaccine mandates and the legal obligations, rights and options available for both employer and employee. ...read more

Peter Frattarelli Interviewed on New York’s TALK1300AM & 98.7FM Talk Radio Segment “The Paul Vandenburgh Show”

Peter Frattarelli, Chair of Archer’s Labor and Employment Group was interviewed for the second time on New York’s talk radio, The Paul Vandenburgh Show, on the recent revelation of one of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's alleged sexual assault victims coming forward. ...read more

Peter Frattarelli Elected President of Board of Directors of Habitat for Humanity of Burlington and Mercer Counties

Archer partner Peter L. Frattarelli was recently elected President of the Board of Directors of Habitat for Humanity of Burlington and Mercer Counties, a nonprofit organization and affiliate of the national organization that has been working for decades to provide decent, affordable housing to families. Peter is a longtime Habitat volunteer and Officer of the Board of Directors, most recently serving as Vice President. Over the past nine years, he has used his experience in labor and employment law to provide assistance and guidance to the organization.  Peter will serve as President for a two-year term ending on June 30, 2023. ...read more

Recent Developments in New Jersey Law 2026

Archer attorneys Peter Frattarelli and Matthew Nicodemo will participate in the New Jersey State Bar Association's program, "Recent Developments in New Jersey Law 2026.” This program brings together New Jersey's leading legal authorities to share their expertise on the latest developments across a range of key practice areas. Attendees will come away with current knowledge of New Jersey law and practical strategies they can apply across a variety of cases. Peter will serve as program moderator and present the session, “New Laws Affecting Hiring and Recruiting, Wages/Pay Transparency Laws.” Matthew will present the session “Recent Developments in Estate and Trust Law.” ...read more

2026 HR Boot Camp

Archer Labor & Employment attorneys will present the 2026 Chamber of Commerce of Southern New Jersey’s Annual “HR Boot Camp.” ...read more

Annual Labor & Employment Seminar

Join Archer’s Labor & Employment Group for our Annual Labor & Employment Seminar. Stay up to date on the major state and federal laws impacting labor and employment practices. ...read more