Christopher A. Tinari

Christopher A. Tinari is a partner in the Employment and Labor Law Group at Margolis Edelstein where he represents management in all aspects of labor and employment law.

Mr. Tinari has represented employers in a variety of litigation matters, including sexual harassment, race, national origin, disability and age discrimination cases, wrongful discharge, defamation, slander, and other state law and constitutional claims. His practice also includes counseling employers on issues including compliance with the American With Disabilities Act, Family Medical Leave Act, sexual harassment investigations, reductions-in-force, discipline and terminations. Mr. Tinari often provides training to employers on recognizing and preventing sexual harassment and other forms of employment discrimination.

Mr. Tinari also provides training and counseling to employees throughout the country on a variety of subjects including monitoring employee attendance, FMLA compliance, medical and religious accommodations, leaves of absence policies, harassment and discrimination claims, business diversity, termination of employees, hiring practices, performance appraisals and performance management.

Mr. Tinari drafts and provides advice on employment contracts, restrictive covenants, severance agreements, non compete and confidentiality agreements and the implementation of employment manuals, policies and procedures.

Mr. Tinari counsels and defends employers, institutions of higher education, religious institutions and professionals accused of sexual misconduct and abuse.  His practice also includes regularly counseling and defending employers in claims involving workplace torts including defamation, fraud, invasion of privacy, tortious interference, and negligent hiring and retention.

Mr. Tinari has been recognized as a "Pennsylvania Super Lawyer" by Philadelphia Magazine and the Institute of Law & Politics.  Mr. Tinari has achieved an "AV" rating from Martindale-Hubbell representing the highest professional and ethical standards awarded by his peers.  Mr. Tinari has also achieved a 10.0 Superb rating from Avvo.  Mr. Tinari is a certified  arbitrator in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.

Education:

Boston University, B.A. in Political Science with Distinction, 1990
Villanova University School of Law, J.D., 1994

Professional Memberships and Activities:

Admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Member of the American, Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Bar Associations, Defense Research Institute, Defense Research Employment Law Committee, Pennsylvania Defense Institute Employment Law Committee, American Conference Institute, Council for Litigation Management, Harmonie Group, and the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy.

Past officer of the Alumni Society of the Episcopal Academy and Boston University. 

Speaking Engagements and Presentations:

"Guidelines on Hiring and Terminating Employees", Pennsylvania Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (PAMIC), Penn State University, State College, PA, March 2010

"Trends in Wage & Hour Litigation", Professional Liability Underwriting Society (PLUS), Philadelphia, PA, December 2009

"The Legality of Severance Agreements", American Contractors Insurance Group (ACIG), Dallas, TX, November 2009

"E-Verify Compliance", American Contractors Insurance Group (ACIG), Dallas, TX, November 2009

"Employee Hiring & Terminations", Lorman Education Services,
Cherry Hill, NJ, December 2008

"Employee Discharge and Documentation", Lorman Education Services, Mount Laurel, NJ, December 2007

"Investigating Sexual Harassment Claims", Defense Research Institute Panel Counsel, Scottsdale, AZ, March 2007  

"Think Like an Employment Lawyer": An Interactive Discussion of Real Life Workplace Scenarios, Lorman Education Services, Mt. Laurel, NJ, July 2006

Practice Areas

• Employment and Labor Law
  
  Areas of Concentration
  
  • Business and Shareholder Services
  • Employment and Labor Law
  • General Liability
  • Municipal Liability
  • Professional Liability

   

  Publications

  • Practice Under the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (PDF)
    
    
  • Employment Law Manual (PDF)
    
    

  Articles

  • Trends in Wage and Hour Litigation (PDF)
    
    
  • E-Verify Compliance (PDF)
    
    
  • Waivers of Discrimination Claims in Employee Severance Agreements (PDF)
    
    
  • Legal Guidelines on Hiring Employees (PDF)
    
    
  • The Temporary Worker Conundrum (PDF)
    
    
  • Hiring an Ex-Con: Background Checks and Other Pre-Screening Techniques (PDF)
    
    
  • Cyber-Sleuth: Monitoring Employee E-Mail (PDF)