An important milestone has been reached in the litigation process against Pittsburg Glass Works over alleged age discrimination, reports glassBYTEs. Earlier this week, the U.S. District Court for Western Pennsylvania granted class certification to the former employees.

In March 2009, Rudolph Karlo, Mark McLure, William Cunningham, Jeffrey Marietti, David Meixelsberger, Benjamin Thompson, and Richard Csukas, plus an unknown amount of other workers, were laid off as part of a reorganization effort.

Thanks to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s trend towards transparency, the statistics for types of discrimination charges and origins of charges have been released in a handy searchable format for each state and territory in the Unites States.

Pennsylvania’s numbers fluctuated quite a bit over the three years available. In 2009, there were 3,448 complaints, or 3.7% of the total complaints in the United States. In 2010, the number shot up to 4,708, or 4.7%. In 2011, it dropped to 4,302 but was still 4.3% of the country’s total.

For the most recent year, these are the five most popular claims. Because some litigants claim multiple forms of discrimination, there may be people who are in multiple categories.

If there is one growth sector in this miserable soul-crushing economy, it’s gotta be the food truck industry. Philly food trucks have grown from dingy aluminum shacks, serving precooked sludge to gourmet restaurants on wheels. The movement has grown so much, that not only did the Philadelphia Inquirer do an entire feature on the movement, but just last week, The New York Times covered the Philly Food Truck scene in their Travel section.

Clearly, this is a growing industry. For those of you restaurateurs who cannot or will not drop hundreds of thousands in startup costs on a brick and mortar location, the food truck should be where you set your sights. In addition to lower startup costs, there’s more connection with the customers and the location’s always changing.

So how do you get in on the trend?

Monise Princilus is the former director of human resources for the Camden City Public Schools, and is a little upset about that "former" part, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. According to Ms. Princilus, she was placed on leave, and then did not have her contract renewed, because she refused to lie on the superintendent's behalf.

Superintendent Bessie LeFra Young is the head honcho of the Camden district. According to the Inquirer, she's come under fire lately for allegedly missing an entire school year's worth of days over the past year and a half. Young claims the absences were due to a chronic illness.

According to NBC 10 Philadelphia, reports have surfaced over the past couple of days that Penn State Assistant Coach Mike McQueary, who has been on administrative leave since the Jerry Sandusky scandal erupted, is now planning on filing a lawsuit against Penn State.

The crux of the whistleblower lawsuit is presumably that Penn State is punishing him for cooperating with the Sandusky investigation, which would be a violation of labor laws.

The EEOC sure has been busy lately. Earlier, they issued new guidelines on the consideration of criminal history and background checks during the pre-employment phase, plus won a case that may have expanded ADA protection to the severely obese.

Now, they have ruled that Title VII, which traditionally has been interpreted to require equality amongst the sexes to require equality amongst all genders, including those who are in the process of, or have completed, transitioning between genders, reports Metro Weekly.

Much like my waistline, the field of disabled Americans protected by the ADA may have just expanded to the severely obese, thanks to recent opinions by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, reports TheJobMouse.com

Lisa Harrison worked as a prevention and intervention specialist at a facility that fought chemical dependencies, Family House in Louisiana, which is owned by Resources for Human Development. She was hired in 1999 and fired in late 2007, reportedly for being severely obese.

Harrison’s weight problem existed at the time she was hired and continued throughout her employment, though she was still able to carry out the essential tasks of her job. She passed away in 2009, yet the suit lives on thanks to the EEOC pressing forward on behalf of her estate.

Jacqueline Heenan worked for Philadelphia-based law firm Fragomen, Del Ray, Bernsen & Lowey LLP for less than a year before she got a troubling medical diagnosis. She needed leave from her employer due to open heart surgery, reports the Pennsylvania Record.

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Family Medical Leave Act, temporary disabilities such as Heenan's surgery require the employer to make reasonable accomodations, like an extended leave of absence. If the employee has paid leave, they should be allowed to use that first, followed by as much unpaid leave as is necessary.

There's trouble brewing amongst the higher-ups in the Philadelphia Police Department, reports the Philadelphia Daily News. Captain Debra Frazier has just filed a lawsuit against her superior officer, Deputy Commissioner William Blackburn. The lawsuit centers around three years of sexual harassment and retaliation after she rebuffed him. There are also cursory mentions of racial and religious discrimination as well.

Frazier, who is an African-American female and a Muslim, allegedly caught Blackburn's eye back in 2008. Among the allegations are that he sent her text messages continuously for years, demanded sex or female companionship for favorable treatment, ogled her at the gym, stalked her, and even made a reference to running her over with his car.

We previously reported on Pepsico's settlement with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for $3.1 million. The suit was brought because Pepsi used background checks in the hiring process, which had a disparate impact on minority candidates. In addition to considering arrests as well as convictions, Pepsi was using background checks, regardless of the importance of the job.

The EEOC only wants background checks done when the applicant's background is "job-related and of business necessity." Pepsi capitulated, cut a check, and changed their internal policies.