FEBRUARY 2019 KunkelCase Files 800-467-5272 • www.KunkelLawFirm.com • GKunkel@KunkelLawFirm.com
KREWES, KING CAKE, AND CULTURE T he F ascinating H istory of M ardi G ras
FROM THE DESK OF
Gregory Kunkel, Esq.
UC BENEFITS AND THE INJURED WORKER
We are often asked by clients who are unable to perform their regular job duties due to injury or illness if they are eligible for unemployment compensation benefits. In Pennsylvania, the short answer to the question is yes, so long as certain conditions are met. Pennsylvania courts consider leaving work due to health reasons a “voluntary quit,” and require an employee to prove compelling and necessitous cause for leaving work. To meet this burden, the worker must generally establish: 1) an adequate health reason for leaving work exists; 2) the worker notified the employer of the health concerns; and 3) the worker is available for work if suitable work within the worker’s restrictions is offered by the employer. UC benefits provide an important safety net for injured workers so every effort should be made to provide the employer with documentation of your restrictions and a request for suitable work within your restrictions. If the employer cannot accommodate the restrictions, you should be eligible to receive
Unlike most holidays, Mardi Gras is associated with a place as much as it is a time. When people think of Mardi Gras, they automatically think of New Orleans. The celebration, held on a Tuesday in either February or March, is a point of pride for NOLA residents but is often misunderstood by the general public. Here’s what you need to know about America’s most regional holiday.
THE DATE
Mardi Gras doesn’t follow the traditional holiday calendar patterns we’re familiar with. It doesn’t fall on a static date, like Christmas, or a specific day within a month, like Memorial Day. Instead, it follows the pattern of Easter, which is based on a more complicated formula. Easter takes place on the Sunday after the first ecclesiastical full moon occurring on or after the vernal equinox (the start of spring). An ecclesiastical full moon, as opposed to a regular full moon, is determined by Catholic church tables, not by lunar patterns. While that part is pretty complex, determining the date of Mardi Gras is much easier: It’s 47 days before Easter. As such, it can fall on any Tuesday between Feb. 3 and March 9, hence the name Mardi Gras, or “Fat Tuesday.”
unemployment compensation benefits.
THE PLACE
While New Orleans is undoubtedly the place everyone associates with Mardi Gras, it is not where the holiday originated in America. That honor belongs to Mobile, Alabama, which or- ganized the first widespread Mardi Gras celebrations in 1703. As more people moved to New Orleans, which became the capital of Louisiana in 1723, the holiday took root there. At first, the people who participated in the festivities were of mostly of French or Catholic heritage.
-Gregory
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