New Jersey Employment Lawyer Blog

Published on: March 14, 2020

New Jersey Supreme Court Says Medical Marijuana Users Are Entitled to the Anti-Disability Discrimination Protections of the Law Against Discrimination

It’s been 10 years since New Jersey first permitted residents to use marijuana for certain medical purposes. Nevertheless, a stigma remains surrounding the use of marijuana, even when used properly and for legitimate medical reasons. Sometimes, that stigma bleeds over into workplace discrimination. For New Jersey workers in that position, a recent ruling from the state Supreme Court is a huge win. The new ruling makes it clear that people who suffer workplace discrimination due to their proper use of medical marijuana may pursue – and win – disability discrimination lawsuits under the Law Against Discrimination. If you’ve suffered harm at work because of your employer’s disapproval of your proper use of medical marijuana, let this ruling be a motivation not to suffer in silence. Instead, call upon an experienced New Jersey disability discrimination attorney to investigate your legal options.

The case involved a North Jersey funeral director who had cancer. As part of the director’s cancer treatment, his doctor had prescribed medical marijuana. The employer found out about the director’s medical marijuana use after the director was injured in an on-the-job vehicle accident. (While working a funeral, the director had been struck by another driver who ran a stop sign.) The director clearly “was not under the influence of marijuana” at the time of the accident, according to the doctor who treated him.

Nevertheless, the funeral home fired the director. The director sued the funeral home for disability discrimination. The trial judge concluded that the director had no case, but the Appellate Division court reversed that decision and allowed the director to go forward.

Published on: March 9, 2020

The Division on Civil Rights Publishes a New Guidance Document About New Jersey Equal Pay Act

by Phillips & Associates

Discrimination law in New Jersey has undergone important changes in recent years, and potentially may be undergoing more. The changes reflect the clear awareness that there’s still more to do in order to stamp out the ills of discrimination and harassment in workplaces in this state. As the laws continue to evolve, the opportunities you have to obtain the compensation you need and deserve for the harm you suffered on the job may be increasing. If you’ve been hurt by workplace discrimination or harassment, make sure you reach out to an experienced New Jersey employment discrimination attorney without delay.

Earlier this year, Governor Phil Murphy announced a proposal that would make numerous beneficial changes to the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination. Before that, though, New Jersey’s state government had already taken some important steps to stamp out certain discrimination, including the discrimination inflicted through the wage gap.

The state passed the Diane B. Allen Equal Pay Act in 2018. This March, the Division on Civil Rights published a guidance document to help employees and employers understand what the Equal Pay Act does for workers. One very important thing to know about the law is that it applies to more than just the gender wage gap.

Published on: February 26, 2020

Governor Proposes Significant Overhaul for New Jersey Law Against Discrimination to Aid Workers Harmed by Harassment and Discrimination

by Phillips & Associates

Governor Phil Murphy recently proposed what would amount to a massive reform of New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination (LAD.) The overhaul, if enacted in its entirety, would make it easier for New Jersey workers who are the victims of discrimination or harassment to file and pursue their cases successfully. The governor’s proposal is an important reminder that the laws in New Jersey are often changing and, sometimes, those changes are major… and massively beneficial to you. Be sure to consult a knowledgeable New Jersey employment discrimination attorney about your situation to get the up-to-date advice you need.

The proposed revamp of the LAD comes in the aftermath of a one-year-long study of discrimination and harassment at New Jersey workplaces, which was conducted by the Division on Civil Rights (DCR.) The director of the DCR, after completing the survey, stated that sexual harassment remained “pervasive. Even as women make up nearly half of the work force, sexual harassment persists in every sector of the workforce.”

Toward ending that pervasiveness, the reform proposed by the governor would extend the statute of limitations for filing a LAD claim from two years to three years. The proposal would also give harmed workers an extra six months to file an administrative complaint with the DCR, which is a mandatory first step before you can sue in court.

Published on: February 19, 2020

A Big Win for Pay Equity: A Federal Appeals Court Says Salary History Bans Don’t Violate Employers’ Constitutional Free Speech Rights

by Phillips & Associates

Many studies have shown that the gender pay gap is real and is persisting. There are many ways in which employers can (and do) contribute to this problem. One is by perpetuating old discrimination by basing a new hire’s salary on what he/she was making at his/her previous job(s). This demand for a “salary history” was common for many decades, but is now being eradicated in many places, including New Jersey, which recently banned the practice. If you have suffered discrimination in the form of an improper salary history demand from a potential employer, you should contact a knowledgeable New Jersey employment discrimination attorney about your situation.

Many of these statutes and ordinances banning salary history disclosures are relatively new, and are still facing court challenges. A salary history ban ordinance in Philadelphia just cleared a major hurdle when the Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the city and found the ordinance constitutional. Philadelphia’s “Wage Equity Ordinance” said employers couldn’t inquire about an applicant’s earnings history, couldn’t require disclosure of earnings history and couldn’t retaliate against an applicant for failing to disclose previous earnings.

The Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce sought to prevent enforcement of the ordinance, arguing that banning employers from asking these sorts of questions violated the employers’ free speech rights under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. A federal district judge even agreed with the chamber, concluding that the ordinance represented a free speech violation and barring enforcement of the ordinance.

Published on: February 13, 2020

A Technician at a New Jersey Facility for People With Disabilities Lands a $150K Settlement in Her Sexual Harassment Case

by Phillips & Associates

Once you’ve made the major decision to file a sexual harassment suit in court, there will still be several more decisions you’ll have to make going forward. Each of these decisions are the kinds of things where the advice and counsel of an experienced New Jersey sexual harassment attorney can be invaluable.

For example, at one or more points, you’ll probably have to decide whether you want to settle your case or take it all the way to a judgment. For some people, hearing a judge or jury state that you were harassed and that your employer violated the law may be an essential goal, meaning that a judgment may be more valuable than a settlement where the employer doesn’t acknowledge its culpability. For many people, though, receiving a settlement award that sufficiently compensates them for the harm they’ve suffered may be enough to warrant letting go of their case, as it allows them to get the financial compensation they need, allows them to obtain closure on a frustrating and painful chapter, and also allows them to avoid the time and stress of additional litigation.

S.C. was one of those workers in the latter category. According to a nj.com report, she worked for at one of New Jersey’s developmental centers for men and women with developmental disabilities, providing services to the center’s residents. In December 2016, S.C. received a new assignment to a different cottage within the center.

Published on: February 6, 2020

Making Sure You File Your New Jersey Law Against Discrimination Case Before the Filing Deadline Imposed by the Law Passes

by Phillips & Associates

When you have been the victim of discrimination on the job in New Jersey, it is very important that you take action right away. Make sure that starts with speaking to an experienced New Jersey employment discrimination attorney. You only have a limited amount of time to file your discrimination claim and, if you wait too long, you could lose out entirely. Your knowledgeable attorney can help you identify exactly when that deadline is in your case and help you get everything you need together and submitted before that deadline passes.

Even if your case potentially seems to be endangered by that filing deadline, there may be options that still allow you to proceed. Take, for example, S.M., a teacher’s assistant. She had some pretty strong evidence in her race discrimination case, including proof that, during her 23 years in the school district, her supervisor reassigned her 19 times, which was allegedly an “unheard of” number of reassignments “given the large number of available employees.”

The employee also asserted that the district passed her over for a promotion that went a Caucasian employee who was “much less experienced and capable.” S.M.’s supervisor also allegedly had a racially biased approach to disciplining employees, taking negative actions against African American employees more often than against white employees.

Published on: January 28, 2020

Winning Your Disability Discrimination Case in New Jersey, Even if Your Employer Began Contemplating Firing You Before Learning of Your Disability

by Phillips & Associates

When it comes to winning a disability discrimination case, timing can often be an extremely important piece of the puzzle. For example, if you have proof that your employer took an adverse action against you very shortly after you requested a reasonable accommodation for your disability, that bit of “timing” evidence can be a major positive for your case. On the other hand, if your employer has proof that it contemplated firing you before it ever became aware of your disability, that evidence potentially can weaken your case. Note that it just weakens your case… it doesn’t necessarily destroy your case. Timing is just one piece of the puzzle among many and, like any other negative fact, it can be overcome. Your skilled New Jersey disability discrimination attorney can help you map out a possible pathway to success, even when some of the pieces of your case (like timing) seem to work against you.

As an example of what we mean, there’s the case of F.C., who worked for a healthcare company. In 2015, the employer began considering replacing F.C. A few months later, the employee developed health problems that eventually required heart surgery to address.

Three weeks after F.C. returned from his post-surgery leave, the employer fired him. The employee sued in federal court, alleging that the termination violated the ADA and the FMLA. The employer had some proof on its side. For one thing, the evidence showed that the employer first began considering firing F.C. before it even knew F.C. had a disability or would need a medical leave of absence from work. That seemed to point toward the firing as being legitimate and non-discriminatory.

Published on: January 22, 2020

The Importance of a Meaningful and Legitimate ‘Interactive Process’ in Your Request for a Disability Accommodation in New Jersey

by Phillips & Associates

When you are seeking an employment accommodation in New Jersey based on your disability, it is very important to have a knowledgeable New Jersey disability discrimination attorney on your side. There are several things that your employer must do during this process and, if it doesn’t (or if it doesn’t do so in good faith,) then that may be a very important cog in your Law Against Discrimination lawsuit. An experienced attorney can spot these issues for you and help you use them to your maximum benefit.

A recent case from Hunterdon County shows what an example of a lack of good faith by an employer might look like. V.L. was a woman with depression and anxiety. V.L. worked at a Hunterdon County health care organization from 1996 to 2015.

During her employment, V.L. had requested several accommodations for her depression and anxiety, which the employer had approved. At the end of an approved 12-week leave of absence, the employee met with her doctor, as well as a physician’s assistant who worked for the employer, about her return to work. According to the P.A., the employer had already identified a replacement to fill V.L.’s job.

Published on: January 16, 2020

Mandatory Vaccinations and New Jersey Religious Discrimination

by Phillips & Associates

In mid-January, a bill to remove religious reasons as a valid exception to the legal requirement that schoolchildren receive certain vaccinations failed to make it out of the Senate before the legislative session ended. The bill, if it had passed, would have forced all public school students to be vaccinated unless they had a documented medical reason not to be. Although the bill did not reach the Governor’s desk before the end of the session, legislative leaders have vowed to begin work right away on a new bill, nj.com reported.

This particular bill that just failed would have had no impact on New Jersey workers when it comes to vaccinations and valid bases for obtaining an exception to an otherwise mandatory inoculation. If your religion forbids you from receiving medical treatments such as vaccinations, then an employer who forces you either to get inoculated or lose your job may be engaged in impermissible religious discrimination. If you find yourself placed in such a difficult position, be sure to reach out to a knowledgeable religious discrimination attorney to discuss your situation and your options.

In New Jersey, there are various avenues that may allow you to avoid having to undergo a vaccination if your preference is not to have one. One way you can avoid vaccination is if you have a medical condition that makes getting vaccinated problematic for your health. For example, the yellow fever vaccine sometimes contains egg proteins. Medical professionals, such as the Mayo Clinic, generally recommend that people with egg allergies do not get a yellow fever vaccine except under specific situations and under close medical supervision.

Published on: January 10, 2020

How Can the New Jersey Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Help Me If I’ve Suffered Pregnancy Discrimination on the Job?

by Phillips & Associates

In 2014, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act became law in New Jersey. That law amended the Law Against Discrimination to go further to combat pregnancy discrimination, and work to eradicate unequal treatment of pregnant women in the workplace (among other places.) The PWFA may be an important aid to you in winning a pregnancy discrimination case. If you have been the victim of pregnancy discrimination at work, an experienced New Jersey pregnancy discrimination attorney who is well-versed in the PWFA and other pregnancy discrimination laws can help.

One recent pregnancy discrimination case that did involve the PWFA was the lawsuit launched by K.D., a police officer. When K.D. found out she was pregnant with her second child, she promptly notified her supervisors that her doctor had advised that she be taken off patrol.

The police department granted the officer’s request for a light-duty assignment but, in accordance with department policy, K.D. could only begin working her light-duty assignment after she had first used up every single hour of vacation, holiday and personal leave time she had accumulated during her entire time on the force.