New Jersey Employment Lawyer Blog

Published on: August 6, 2020

Communication: It’s One of the Essentials, Not Only in Personal Relationships, But in Good Attorney-Client Relationships, Too

Like many personal relationships, the best attorney-clients relationships are based on trust and communication. If you’re not being honest with your attorney or not communicating with your attorney, it could lead to problems that will harm your case. That’s why it is important to recognize that your employment discrimination or harassment case requires, not just a skilled New Jersey employment attorney, but the right attorney with whom you can forge a strong relationship in order to get the best outcome for you.

A recent case from Union County is an unfortunate example. L.A., the employee, was a worker at a health insurance entity’s office. In 2017, she sued her employer for discrimination and sexual harassment. Attorneys for the employer and employee discussed possibly settling the case in late 2018, with employer initially offering $25,000. L.A.’s position started at $95,000 but she eventually lowered that to $90,000.

L.A. and her legal team communicated on Oct. 31. As the employer increased its offers, L.A.’s legal team reached out on Nov.2, Nov. 3, Nov. 4 and Nov. 5, with each message expressing an increasing degree of urgency that the client contact the law office immediately. L.A. didn’t respond to any of those November messages, and that created a problem, as the judge was on the verge of entering a ruling.

Published on: July 28, 2020

I Was Repeatedly Sexually Harassed at Work, and So I Resigned. Can I Still Sue in New Jersey? (Hint: Yes!)

by Phillips & Associates

For too many workers, their workplace is not a safe place. For some, that means something like being a construction worker at a dangerous site where safety rules and regulations are routinely flouted. For others, it means something very different, but potentially as dangerous. These workers, most of whom are women but many of whom are men, face a job site where they face daily threat of harm – be it psychological, physical or both – as a result of sexual harassment from a supervisor. When your employer fails to take action to protect you, you may eventually reach a breaking point where protecting your safety means resigning. Do not be misled into thinking that, just because you resigned, you cannot win a sexual harassment case under the Law Against Discrimination. Don’t give up, but instead do reach out to an experienced New Jersey sexual harassment attorney about your legal options.

S.W. was one of those workers who resigned and later sued. She worked as a marketing manager for an auto club in Wayne. Very soon after she began her job, the sexual harassment allegedly started. D.H., one of the club’s vice presidents, engaged in many forms of harassment, according to the lawsuit.

First, it was urging S.W. to “check out” the breasts of other women who had a “nice rack.” Then there allegedly was the time that the vice president showed her a hand-drawn image, which was supposed to be a membership goal thermometer, but was actually aroused male genitalia. After that, according to S.W., was the time that she was sitting on a folding table to conduct a meeting and the man (who by then was the president) made fun of S.W.’s sitting position, asking her if it was “an invite” as he made a pelvic thrusting motion. Allegedly, the harassment escalated to unwanted touching when the president “felt up her leg.”

Published on: July 21, 2020

A New Jersey Worker’s Failure in Federal Court is Another Reminder of the Importance of the Right Attorney in Your Discrimination Case

by Phillips & Associates

Too many people think that, because they have a strong knowledge of the facts of their discrimination case, and perhaps a certain degree of understanding of the law, they can handle their case without representation from a skilled New Jersey employment attorney. That’s almost always a mistake. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of legal or procedural traps that a skilled employment attorney avoids every day but that can readily ensnare you, as a layperson, if you try to “go it alone.”

A recent federal case is a regrettable example. The employee, K.K., was an Asian-American man of Korean origin who worked for a financial services firm. During his time there, he allegedly suffered many forms of harassment, including a coworker “trampling the floor” near him. K.K. complained to a manager, but to no avail.

The employer eventually fired K.K. in 2018. The terminated worker, who was in his late 50s by this time, filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and, later, sued for age discrimination, national origin discrimination and race discrimination in federal court.

Published on: July 14, 2020

A New Jersey Man Sues, Alleging He Was on the Receiving End of Extreme Instances of Racial Bias on Multiple Occasions

by Phillips & Associates

According to a recently filed federal lawsuit, K.R., an African-American man who worked in a New Jersey manufacturing facility for a decade and a half, suffered a horrific array of extreme instances of racial discrimination. At this point in time, the acts of race discrimination in K.R.’s case are just allegations – they have not yet been proven in a court of law. Nevertheless, K.R.’s case is a useful one for workers of color in New Jersey to look at, as it serves as an important reminder that you don’t need hundreds or dozens (or even multiple) instances of discrimination in order to have a successful case. With even just a single instance of severe discrimination, you may have a winning case. To be sure you have the strongest case possible to present to the court, reach out to an experienced New Jersey racial discrimination attorney as soon as possible.

According to a report in mycentraljersey.com, the racism-fueled harassment allegedly began just two months after K.R. started his job. First, two white employees allegedly vandalized his vehicle. K.R. reported it, and even after the white employees admitted what they’d done, the employer merely paid for the damages, but took no “remedial or disciplinary” action against those employees, according to the lawsuit.

One year later, a Hispanic employee allegedly told K.R. and two African-American co-workers that they’d been assigned to work in the workplace’s freezer because “the three of you are” [N-words]. (There allegedly was an additionally profane slur preceding the N-word.)

Published on: July 7, 2020

How Certain Types of Employer Conduct Can Strengthen Your Disability Discrimination Case in New Jersey

by Phillips & Associates

“Cancer” is a word that can strike fear in even the bravest of people. Everyone dreads hearing a response from the doctor that starts, “I am detecting a mass and I think we should check it out.” Undergoing cancer treatment, or even just testing for potential cancer, is a serious medical event that can impact every part of your life, both professional and personal. Among all the other fears with which you’ll inevitably have to deal, losing your job due to discrimination shouldn’t be one of them. If that happens to you, be sure to reach out to an experienced New Jersey disability discrimination attorney to discuss your legal options.

W.E., a truck driver from Pennsylvania, was one of those people who had to face those challenges. In late 2015, he underwent surgery to remove a nodule in his left lung (and so that doctors could test the nodule for cancer.) That procedure (and post-operative recovery) forced the trucker to take a two-month leave.

After just a month and a half back at work, the trucker suffered a severe respiratory infection at the end of January 2016, missing several days of work. On Feb. 1, W.E.’s second day back, the employer fired him, so he sued in federal court for disability discrimination in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Published on: June 26, 2020

The New Jersey Workers Who Stand to Reap the Greatest Benefits from the U.S. Supreme Court’s Recent LGBT Discrimination Decision

by Phillips & Associates

The new U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case of Bostock v. Clayton County is rightly considered as a landmark in discrimination law, establishing conclusively that anti-LGBT+ discrimination is illegal discrimination under federal law. While most New Jersey workers were already protected from workplace sexual orientation or gender identity discrimination under long-standing protections written into New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination, not all were. The new ruling offers some very significant help for some other workers in the Garden State… and that number could grow in the not-too-distant future. If you have been the victim of sexual orientation or gender identity discrimination at work, be sure to consult an experienced New Jersey employment attorney to find out about your options under state or federal law (or both.)

Employment discrimination because a person is gay, lesbian or bisexual has been a violation of the Law Against Discrimination for nearly three decades. Workplace discrimination against trans people has been against the law in New Jersey since 2006. Not all Garden State workers, however, are covered by the Law Against Discrimination’s protections. For those people, the new federal ruling could have profound impacts.

The ruling in the Bostock case makes it clear that discrimination against LGBT+ workers is discrimination “because of sex,” which is barred under Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act. This development in federal law is a huge benefit for federal workers here in New Jersey. The law says that, if you are a federal government worker, you are only allowed to pursue discrimination claims based on federal law, not state law. The Law Against Discrimination’s protection would do nothing for a trans person who’s a federal worker in Newark. The ruling in the Bostock case, however, would give that person a very viable claim of discrimination in violation of Title VII.

Published on: June 18, 2020

U.S. Supreme Court Says that LGBT Discrimination in the Workplace Violates Federal Law. What Does That Mean for New Jersey Workers?

by Phillips & Associates

In a highly anticipated decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has declared that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which is the federal law that bans certain forms of discrimination, applies to LGBT workers. Because of New Jersey’s strong and progressive laws regarding workplace discrimination, LGBT workers have been protected by the Law Against Discrimination for many years. This latest development, however, may give certain worker important additional options. This expanded array of available legal options is yet another good reason to retain an experienced New Jersey employment attorney for your case and ensure you’re benefiting from the best insight and in-depth knowledge of the law and its latest evolutions.

The Supreme Court case was actually a consolidation of three cases from the lower courts. In one, a county government employee in Georgia was fired shortly after he joined a softball league for gay men. In a second, a skydiving instructor in New York was fired shortly after his employer discovered he was gay. In Michigan, a funeral home fired a trans woman who after six years on the job, announced her intention to begin, as part of her transition, dressing in accordance with the employer’s rules for female attire.

All of these situations, according to the high court, represented impermissible forms of sex discrimination under Title VII. The majority opinion stated that an “employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex. Sex plays a necessary and undisguisable role in the decision, exactly what Title VII forbids.”

Published on: June 12, 2020

New Jersey Senator Proposes a Bill to Make Discrimination Against Family Caregivers a Violation of Federal Law

by Phillips & Associates

From time to time, both federal and New Jersey anti-discrimination laws frequently undergo changes – some minor but some major – so, if you believe you’ve been harmed by discrimination or harassment at your job, be sure you have a knowledgeable New Jersey employment attorney on your side who’s up to date on all the changes to the law, and the impacts those can have. For example, Title VII, the federal law that bans many forms of workplace discrimination, originally only protected people from discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion or national origin. Over the decades, Congress added protections against age, pregnancy and disability discrimination. Now, U.S. Senator Cory Booker has proposed a new expansion, which would make discrimination against family caregivers (sometimes also known as family responsibilities discrimination) a violation of federal law.

Sen. Booker’s proposal, which is entitled the “Protecting Family Caregivers from Discrimination Act,” would make family caregiver status a protected class much like race, sex, religion, national origin, disability and age. Employers, under the proposed act, would be barred from firing, demoting, refusing to hire or otherwise taking adverse employment action against a person based on her/his status as a caregiver for family members, according to the senator’s web page. The bill would also, similar to the anti-discrimination and harassment protections afforded to those other groups, prohibit retaliation against a worker who seeks to enforce her/his rights under the expanded law.

Sen. Booker’s proposal is not the first of its kind. In 2016, New York City enacted a law that banned family caregiver discrimination in the city’s workplaces.

Published on: June 8, 2020

How a New Jersey Worker Used Her Hostile Environment Lawsuit and Settlement to Create Change for Future Sexual Harassment Plaintiffs

by Phillips & Associates

If you’ve been harmed as a result of workplace discrimination or sexual harassment, you’re probably looking for something that you consider to be “justice.” Sometimes, that justice is a money award or settlement, to make up for all the lost earnings and other financial harm you’ve suffered. Sometimes, it is a large money award or settlement to create positive change by discouraging your employer and others from engaging in similar wrongful conduct in the future. Still other times, it is about creating positive change through other means beyond just a money payment. Whatever form of justice you’re seeking as a result of your workplace discrimination or sexual harassment, the right New Jersey employment attorney can help get you there.

K.B., who was a staff member on Gov. Murphy’s 2017 campaign, was a woman who allegedly suffered a most egregious form of workplace sexual harassment. In April 2017, the head of the Murphy campaign’s Muslim and Latino outreach allegedly sexually assaulted K.B. in her apartment, nj.com reported. According to K.B.’s lawsuit, this happened after a different female staffer had submitted no fewer than three complaints about “a toxic work environment and workplace violence” within the campaign. K.B. subsequently sued the Muslim/Latino outreach director, the Murphy campaign, and the state for several violations, including violations of the Law Against Discrimination.

The campaign staffer’s lawsuit is a reminder of several important aspects of New Jersey anti-discrimination and harassment law. First, K.B.’s case is a reminder that, regardless of whether she had been a paid staffer or an unpaid volunteer, she had a right to seek a civil court award. Although the Law Against Discrimination does not make a specific statement including unpaid interns and volunteers within the law’s protections, the Director of the Division on Civil Rights has stated that both paid employees and volunteer workers are protected against discrimination and sexual harassment by the law.

Published on: May 27, 2020

Even People in Positions of Substantial Power and Authority Can Be the Victims of Workplace Gender Discrimination in New Jersey

by Phillips & Associates

Everyone has an idea of what they think gender discrimination looks like. The stereotype many picture involves a female employee, probably working in a job with relatively low prominence (and low income,) being harassed by a supervisor or more senior person who is male. The reality is that gender discrimination is much broader than just this stereotype, and it’s very important to keep that reality in mind. Just because your supervisor is the same gender as you, or just because you are in a job of high authority, power or influence, that doesn’t mean that you cannot be victimized by gender discrimination and it doesn’t mean you can’t win a gender discrimination lawsuit in the federal or New Jersey courts. Regardless of your job title or your gender, if you’ve suffered gender discrimination, you owe it to yourself to consult with a knowledgeable New Jersey gender discrimination attorney to learn more about your options.

The plaintiff in a recent gender discrimination case is a very good example of this. The plaintiff was not a nearly hired mail room clerk; she was a state court judge on the New Jersey Superior Court bench. During the second half of 2015, the judge’s supervisor, who was also a judge and also a woman, allegedly made derogatory remarks about the plaintiff’s gender, her demeanor and her appearance.

The supervisory judge allegedly belittled and demeaned the plaintiff in front of her staff, and was abusive toward her on other occasions, as well. Furthermore, the supervisor launched accusations against the plaintiff asserting that she engaged in multiple forms of judicial misconduct.