New Jersey Employment Lawyer Blog — Published by New Jersey Employment Attorneys

Published on: August 22, 2019

New Jersey’s Civil Service Commission Re-Drafts Rule that Potentially Forced Survivors of Harassment into Mandatory Silence

Non-disclosure obligations in cases involving sexual harassment have come under increasing scrutiny in recent months and years, and deservedly so. Some non-disclosure rules can potentially aid survivors by shielding their privacy. However, if written too broadly, these rules run the risk of harming, not helping, survivors of harassment. For example, under the current rules, if you’re a New Jersey state employee, you risk losing your job if you discuss a sexual harassment complaint – even if you were the victim. The state recently announced that it had re-drafted the rule in the hopes of avoiding creating a “chilling effect” on victims’ reporting their harassment, nj.com reported.

Whether you are a government employee or work in the private sector, if you’ve been sexually harassed at work, you may have various options to receive the compensation you deserve for the harm you suffered. Contact an experienced New Jersey sexual harassment attorney to find out more.

As an example of how the state employee rule, prior to its re-drafting, could hurt victims of sexual harassment consider the case of V.U., as reported by nj.com. V.U. was a woman who worked as a procurement specialist for the state’s Department of Treasury for two years, from 2014-16. According to the specialist, her supervisor subjected her to “pervasive sexual harassment,” including stalking, unwelcome physical contact and sexual propositions.

Published on: August 15, 2019

How Your Resignation May Count as a ‘Termination’ When it Comes to Winning Your Discrimination Lawsuit

by Phillips & Associates

In some workplaces, employers may be very hesitant to fire employees. Sometimes, the employer may try to goad certain employees into resigning by making the job so unpleasant or unsatisfying that the employee quits. These employers hope that, by securing a resignation as opposed to issuing a termination, they’re dodging certain types of legal exposure, including liability for employment discrimination or harassment.

However, just because you resigned your job as opposed to being fired, that doesn’t automatically mean that you cannot win a discrimination case using the circumstances of your exit as the required “adverse employment action.” Sometimes, an employment setting may be so horrible that a reasonable person would see quitting as the right way forward. When that happens, that’s called a “constructive discharge,” and, as one recent case showed, it potentially can be just as effective in helping you win your discrimination case as if you’d been fired. To learn more about all the options you may have if you’ve suffered workplace discrimination, be sure to contact an experienced New Jersey employment discrimination attorney about your situation.

What does constructive discharge look like? The U.S. Supreme Court said in 2004 that constructive discharge occurs when the employees has proof that “the abusive working environment became so intolerable that … resignation qualified as a fitting response.”

Published on: August 8, 2019

New Jersey Law That Bans All Employers from Asking Salary History Questions to Take Effect Jan. 1

by Phillips & Associates

In this space (and likely in others,) you’ve read discussion of many of the various forms of employment discrimination that exist. Some of them are fairly overt. If, for example, you discover an email where your supervisor says that you should be fired because pregnant employees are too costly for the company, then you have a straightforward case of pregnancy discrimination. Others are less direct and more subtle. For example, when employers ask a job candidate’s salary history, those employers often end up perpetuating the underpayment of employees who have been historically been underpaid in the past. In that way, these salary history questions help perpetuate the gender wage gap.

In other words, discrimination can come in many variations and shades. It doesn’t have to be something overt or obvious. If you think you’ve been harmed by discriminatory employment practices, you owe it to yourself to contact a knowledgeable New Jersey employment attorney.

When it comes to the troubles connected to salary history questions, that problem is about to become less common in New Jersey. Last year, Gov. Murphy signed into law a bill that banned salary history questions in all aspects of state government hiring. Now, the state has a law on the books that says that any employer who asks salary history questions has violated the law, nj.com has reported.

Published on: July 26, 2019

A Muslim Cook from Egypt Wins a Renewed Chance to Pursue His Claims of Discrimination Based on Religion and National Origin in New Jersey

by Phillips & Associates

Muslims in this country face many challenges, including at work. One hurdle that Muslims of Middle Eastern origin should not, but too often do, have to face is discrimination because of their religion and/or national origin. Too many face workplace jokes and taunts where they are labeled as close associates of terrorists or terrorists themselves just because of where they originate and what they believe.

If you are someone who has found yourself victimized by employment discrimination due to your religion (whether it’s Islam or some other faith) or due to your national origin, then you may be entitled to sue and to recover compensation under the Law Against Discrimination. To ensure you’re pursuing your case in the most effective way possible, be sure you have representation from an experienced New Jersey employment attorney.

One New Jersey worker who allegedly experienced this kind of discrimination was A.M., a cook who worked at a country club a half-hour west of Newark. A.M. was Egyptian and a Muslim.

Published on: July 22, 2019

New Jersey Senate Considers a New Bill to Make Discrimination Against ‘Natural’ or ‘Protective’ Hairstyles a Violation of Discrimination Law

by Phillips & Associates

In recent years, lawmakers have started to address a subtle, but nevertheless insidious, form of race discrimination. That discrimination occurs when employers, as part of their dress and grooming policies, forbid the wearing of certain hairstyles that represent “natural” hairstyles of African-Americans. Complying with these rules can be not only emotionally stressful, but also physically painful and financially expensive for some African-American workers.

Lawmakers in New York and California have begun debate on ending this practice. Now, New Jersey is taking steps to follow suit. A bill is pending in the New Jersey Senate that would include discrimination based on these types of hairstyles among the forms of illegal discrimination barred by the Law Against Discrimination, nj.com has reported. Whether or not you are someone who potentially faces this kind of discrimination, the introduction of this bill is a reminder of the importance of having an experienced New Jersey employment attorney on your side who is up-to-date on all the most recent changes and evolutions of discrimination law in the Garden State.

The senate bill, as it is currently written, would ban discrimination based upon “traits historically associated with race, including, but not limited to, hair texture, hair type, and protective hairstyles.” (A “protective” hairstyle refers to any hairdo that preserves hair from damage. For African-Americans, that can mean many styles, including twists, braids, Afros and Bantu knots, among others.)

Published on: July 13, 2019

Pursuing a New Jersey Law Against Discrimination Case Even If You Lived and Worked Outside New Jersey

by Phillips & Associates

Today, in business news, one hears a lot about the “global economy.” That can mean a lot of things, from a remote employee who telecommutes halfway across the country to an on-site worker who is employed by a corporate conglomerate based several states away.

How and why does all that matter when you’re the victim of employment discrimination or workplace harassment? It matters because the laws in each state are different and some states, such as New Jersey, offer greater protection to workers than others do. This means that pursuing your case in New Jersey could very possibly be more beneficial than going to court elsewhere and could be the difference between success and defeat. To find out all about seeking compensation under the Law Against Discrimination, be sure you consult an experienced New Jersey employment attorney about your options.

The most recent example of this type of boundary-crossing employment law issue was the case of D.C. D.C. lived in Quincy, Illinois and worked for a Quincy-based company as a vice president of marketing. D.C. also allegedly was the victim of workplace association discrimination. His employer allegedly discriminated against him because of his wife’s disability. (The wife had terminal breast cancer.) That discrimination took the form, first, of a failure to promote and then, later, a wrongful termination, according to D.C.’s lawsuit.

Published on: July 5, 2019

How a South Jersey Police Officer Got a Renewed Chance to Pursue His Race Discrimination Case Based on a Denied Promotion

by Phillips & Associates

A New Jersey police officer received good news regarding his civil service claim alleging racial discrimination recently. The Appellate Division gave his case new life, asserting that when a civil service employee provides proof of discrimination as strong as this worker did, then a hearing should be held to determine each side’s credibility, and failure to hold that hearing is arbitrary and unreasonable.

There are several hurdles to clear in order to succeed in any discrimination claim. You should be sure you have a knowledgeable New Jersey employment discrimination attorney on your side at every step in the process.

The employee, R.B., was a police officer with a force in South Jersey for 16 years. He applied several times for promotion to sergeant but was not successful. In 2014, he was fourth on the civil service exam result list and was bypassed for a white officer who was first. In 2016, he was second on the exam results list, and was rejected in favor of the first, third and fourth-highest examinees. The officer, who was African-American, sued for racial discrimination.

Published on: June 28, 2019

Identifying Flaws in Your Employer’s Arbitration Policy Acceptance Process May be a Key to Success in Your New Jersey Discrimination Case

by Phillips & Associates

Sometimes, you may run across a story about an employee who was harmed in a situation similar to your own. If, at the end, that employee loses her case, it may easy to become discouraged. Don’t give in to that impulse. Each case has its own unique set of facts. It may turn out that the facts in the unsuccessful employee’s case were especially unfavorable or there were important things that were different from your own circumstance. To get the best sense of the strengths or challenges involved in your potential discrimination or harassment claim, what you need is the advice of an experienced New Jersey employment attorney.

M.B. was a worker who lost her case, but her setback can be very instructive for other workers who suffer employment discrimination. M.B. worked as a manager for a fitness center in New Jersey from 2011 until Aug. 19, 2016. She was fired, allegedly, for “poor performance, undocumented absences, and insubordination.” The manager, though, identified a different reason for her termination: her race. So, she filed a Law Against Discrimination action.

The employer asked the judge to order the two sides to arbitration, and employee contested going to arbitration. The courts ruled for the employer.

Published on: June 20, 2019

Can I Have a Viable Disability Discrimination Case in New Jersey, Even Without an ‘Adverse Employment Action’?

by Phillips & Associates

It is a general rule of the law that, if you have a disability (or a perceived disability) and your employer imposes an adverse employment action against you (such as termination, demotion, reduction in pay, reduction in hours, reassignment of duties, etc.) because of that disability, then you can pursue a disability discrimination action.

However, what if your employer never inflicted any of those things against you? Does the absence of that fact mean that you are “out of luck” when it comes to seeking much-needed compensation for disability discrimination? According to a recent Appellate Division ruling, the answer is “no.” This important employee victory in court is a reminder that, if you think you’ve been harmed on the job due to your disability, you should always take the time to contact an experienced New Jersey employment attorney and discuss the options that may exist for you.

In that recent case, M.R. was a middle school teacher in a school district in Bergen County who had Type I diabetes. During the 2012-13 school year, her schedule called for her to take lunch starting at 1:05 pm. The teacher believed that, due to the drugs she took for her diabetes, eating lunch that late could negatively affect her blood sugar levels.

Published on: June 13, 2019

Don’t Wait Too Long to Pursue Your New Jersey Workplace Discrimination or Harassment Case

by Phillips & Associates

It takes a lot to succeed in a New Jersey discrimination lawsuit. You need proof you were a member of protected class (race, sex, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, etc.), evidence that you suffered harm at work (termination, demotion, change of job duties, reduction in hours, reduction in pay, etc.) based on that membership and proof that any legitimate reason the employer gave for its action was really just a pretext for discrimination.

But you can have all that and still lose. In fact, you can have all that and never even get your day in court. How? Procedural errors, which can include things like filing too late, after the deadline has passed. Make a mistake like this and your case may be dismissed without any of your factual evidence ever getting before a court. This is one reason among countless ones why it pays to have an experienced and diligent New Jersey discrimination attorney on your side.

The limitations period for filing a discrimination lawsuit in New Jersey is two years. There are many reasons why you may need to wait to file until very near the deadline. When you’ve filed close to the deadline, your skilled counsel can help you overcome arguments by the defense that your filing was tardy when it was actually on time.