Most people are familiar with school yard bullies either because they were a bully, been bullied, and/or witnessed bullying. Bullying has always been prevalent in our schools such that some nostalgically view it as a ‘rite of passage.’ This old-school way of thinking has given away over time…
New Jersey Employment Attorneys Blog
RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS AND EMPLOYER CONTROL: HOW FAR IS TOO FAR?
Employers enjoy tremendous freedom to impose restrictions on their employees. Employment contracts, company handbooks, company policies, and even oral communications, are all mechanisms an employer may use to restrict the actions of their employees. This control may extend even after an employee leaves a company through the employer’s use of…
NEW JERSEY’S LAW AGAINST DISCRIMINATION PROTECTS PERSONS INFECTED WITH HIV OR AIDS FROM BEING DENIED MEDICAL TREATMENT
A person infected with HIV or AIDS cannot be denied medical treatment in a hospital or clinic, nor denied treatment by a medical practice or physical therapy group. HIV or AIDS under New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD), N.J.S.A., 10:5-1 to 10:5-42, and its accompanying regulations have evolved to provide…
AN EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK MAY CREATE AN ENFORCEABLE CONTRACT
Many mid-level to large companies use an attorney handbook or direct employees during the new hire onboarding process to an employee intranet site where the employer communicates its company philosophy, policies, procedures, behavioral expectations, and worker benefits. The question often raised by employees is whether the employer is legally bound…
EMPLOYERS CANNOT MAKE EMPLOYEES PAY FOR ERRORS OR MISTAKES
In New Jersey an employer cannot recover damages from their employee caused by the employee’s negligent errors or omissions. Incredibly, this was not always the case. At one time, our New Jersey courts permitted employers to sue their employees to recover monies it the employer had to pay to third…
Time’s Up For Sexual Harassers and Employers Who Enable Them
America is in the middle of a social reckoning. Brave women are standing up and telling their stories of sexual harassment, assault, or other abuses by men in positions of power through use of the hashtag, #MeToo. The #MeToo movement, focused primarily on sharing stories of abuse, evolved into a…
NEW JERSEY LAW PROHIBITS ASSOCIATION DISCRIMINATION
Employers can be held liable under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) and New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination (“LAD”) for discriminating against an employee because of the employee’s association with a member of a protected group (e.g., sex, race, national origin,…
New Jersey Supreme Court Finds Waiving Workers’ Compensation Claims Violates Public Policy
The New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Act, N.J.S.A., 34:15–1 to -146 (Workers Compensation Act), protects and allows workers who are injured on the job to receive compensation and be made whole for their injuries. This protection generally extends to third parties as well. For example, if an employer (IT, security, or custodial…
Your Right To A Sexual Harassment Free Workplace
Under the federal Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination (LAD) workers are protected from sexual harassment in the workplace. There are two kinds of sexual harassment; (1) quid pro quo –agreement to perform sexual favors to receive a benefit (promotion, raise,…
Temp Agency Workers in the Third Circuit and New Jersey May Sue Their Immediate Employers For Workplace Discrimination
New Jersey is one of the states comprising the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. In considering the scope of protections afforded workers by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C § 2000 et seq. (“Title VII”), our Third Circuit defines an “employee”…