Denise E. Elliott

Profile

As a member of the McNees Labor and Employment Practice Group, Denise focuses her practice on defending employers in workers compensation matters and providing representation and counsel to clients in employment discrimination/harassment litigation, ADA/FMLA compliance, drug and alcohol testing and workplace safety and health issues.

An experienced litigator, Denise represents public and private sector employers in all phases of employment-related litigation, including before state and federal courts, arbitrators, administrative law judges and administrative agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission.  Recognizing her clients’ ultimate goal is to stay out of court, Denise provides proactive counseling and training to employers to help employers comply with the law and avoid litigation.  Denise is an EEOC trained investigator and frequently aids employers in investigating allegations of sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation and other incidents of workplace misconduct.  Denise’s understanding of the interplay between workers’ compensation laws, the ADA, the FMLA, Title VII and unemployment compensation is critical in helping her clients navigate the complex web these laws often create.

Denise is a frequent speaker and author on the topic of medical marijuana in the workplace.  Her articles on this topic have been published by Inc. Magazine, Corporate Counsel Business Journal, The Legal Intelligencer, and Business Woman Magazine, among others.  Denise is a member of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce Medical Marijuana Taskforce and has testified before the Senate Health and Human Services Committee regarding recommended revisions to Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Act.  Denise is certified as a specialist in the practice of workers’ compensation law by the Pennsylvania Bar Association Workers’ Compensation Law Section and is a member of the Pennsylvania and Lancaster Bar Associations. She is the past chair of the Workers’ Compensation Section and the Labor and Employment Section of the Lancaster Bar Association.  Denise was named a 2014 and 2015 Select Lawyer and a 2019 and 2020 Rising Star. Denise is admitted to practice in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, before the Federal District Courts in the Eastern, Middle and Western Districts of Pennsylvania, before the Third Circuit Court and before the Supreme Court of the United States.

Denise believes strongly in philanthropy, giving back to her community and honoring the legal profession.  Currently, Denise serves on the Board of Directors for Union Community Care (and as Chair of Union’s personnel committee) and as a Director at Large for the Lancaster Bar Association.  Denise is also an Adjunct Professor at Penn State Dickinson Law School, teaching an experiential learning class in PHRC/EEOC Litigation. Denise is a member of the Planning and Policy Committee at Lancaster Catholic High School and the JP McCaskey Friends of Music Committee.  Denise served the Board of Directors of Girls on the Run Lancaster/Lebanon for eight years, including two years as chair, on the Board for the Hands-on-House Children’s Museum for six years and is the former chair of the parent School Board at St. John Neumann Catholic School.  Denise has volunteered with Junior Achievement and is a 2009 graduate of Leadership Lancaster.  In her spare time, Denise enjoys attending the theatre, reading, spending time at the beach and rooting for all Philadelphia sports teams. Denise resides in Lancaster Township with her husband, two daughters and two St. Bernards (Finnegan and Maui).