New Jersey Employment Lawyer Blog

Published on: December 24, 2019

It’s Official: New Jersey Law Now Recognizes ‘Hair Discrimination’ as Illegal Race Discrimination

The original spark may not have come from a New Jersey workplace, but the final outcome will be something that will benefit thousands upon thousands of New Jersey workers. That outcome is that, as nj.gov reported, on Dec. 19, 2019, New Jersey became the third state to ban discrimination based upon a person’s natural hairstyle when Governor Murphy signed the CROWN Act into law. This is an extremely important new law for workers, many of whom in the past have been forced to choose between taking costly and sometimes drastic measures to alter their hair or else face workplace punishment or even termination due to their failure to conform to workplace grooming rules.

As several lawmakers have pointed out recently, no one should face adverse action in employment simply because of the way in which their hair grows naturally. Now, the law will make it clear that imposing such unfair rules is against the law and entitles the worker to pursue financial compensation in court with the assistance of a New Jersey race discrimination attorney.

One year to the day before the governor signed the act, on Dec. 19, 2018, a South Jersey high school wrestler was on the verge of competing when he was approached with what many would consider a “Hobson’s choice.” A referee told the student that he must shave off his dreadlocks, or else he must forfeit his match. The student eventually wrestled, but not before suffering the humiliation of having his head shaved right there in the gym. That terrible incident served as the “flashpoint” that set New Jersey on the road to banning discrimination based on natural hair.

Published on: December 23, 2019

Is ‘OK Boomer’ OK in a New Jersey Workplace, Or Is It Potential Evidence of Age Discrimination?

by Phillips & Associates

While some social media jokes or memes that go “viral” may be harmless fun, others have the potential to perpetuate racism, sexism, ageism or other forms of discrimination. When employers allow that sort of harmful activity to occur in their workplaces, they are potentially allowing for the creation or exacerbation of a hostile work environment. If you’ve been forced to endure a stream of jokes, insults and other comments due to your age, race, sex, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or military status, then you may have been the victim of illegal discrimination and may be entitled to a significant sum in compensation. Contact an experienced New Jersey age discrimination lawyer to find out more.

The latest potentially problematic viral phrase to emerge into popularity is “OK Boomer.” The phrase, which is a reference to people of the “Baby Boom” generation, is intended to poke fun at anyone saying something that is considered outdated or out-of-touch, and has received coverage from sources including the New York Times. It has even reached into the Star Wars universe, with one popular online picture showing Baby Yoda using “OK Boomer” as a snarky comeback to Yoda.

What may be funny when it involves Yoda catching flak from Baby Yoda may be less so when it involves you doing your job. An “OK Boomer“ jab at work potentially indicates that the speaker is saying you are less skillful and less competent at your job simply due to your age. Federal law protects workers who are age 40 or older from age discrimination, meaning that a hostile work environment that includes “OK Boomer” jokes/comments could lead to a potentially successful federal case.

Published on: December 16, 2019

Holiday Parties Can Still Be a Breeding Ground for Sexual Harassment, Both in New Jersey and Beyond

by Phillips & Associates

It’s that time of year again. The holidays are again upon us. Along with gifts, food and family get-togethers, many people’s holidays in New Jersey also include holiday parties put on by their employers. For a lot of folks, these events are fun, or at least professionally productive. For too many people, though, these events are fraught with navigating offensive conduct… or worse.

Regardless of who has engaged in the offensive conduct – be it a co-worker or a supervisor – part of the legal blame may lie with the employer, making the employer liable under state or federal law for discrimination or sexual harassment. Check with an experienced New Jersey sexual harassment attorney about the specifics of your situation to find what legal options may best help you.

The headlines across 2019 have revealed that, even after the emergence of #MeToo and other forms of heightened awareness regarding sexual harassment, misconduct at holiday parties is still an issue. Tinder is a dating app that, according to some observers, offered users the option to pursue sex without a relationship. According to one former marketing executive at the company, the company’s former CEO appeared to think that the company’s holiday party offered him the opportunity to pursue sexual activity without consent. The former VP’s lawsuit, filed this past summer, alleged that the man, who was still CEO at the time of the party, made sexually graphic comments to her, then later followed her to her hotel room, where he forcibly groped her breasts and kissed her, according to a Yahoo! report.

Published on: December 5, 2019

An African-American Nursing Facility VP Receives a $6M Award in New Jersey Race Discrimination Case

by Phillips & Associates

A popular TV commercial features a famous current football player debating a famous retired player regarding which was more important – a good offense or a good defense. A knowledgeable employment discrimination attorney will tell you that, when it comes to pursuing a discrimination case successfully, it is vitally important to have both – powerful evidence that persuasively bolsters the arguments you’re making, as well as effective proof that will blunt the arguments the other side will inevitably make during your litigation.

For an example of what this means, look at the case of R.M., which was reported by northjersey.com. The employer, a nursing facility in Bound Brook, fired R.M., an African American vice president at the facility, from her job in late 2016. According to the employee, the termination was the result of racial discrimination.

R.M. had strong proof that she used both in support of her case and in opposition of the defense’s case. In a discrimination case, one of the most effective forms of circumstantial evidence of your employer’s discriminatory motive that you can have is timing. If, for example, you’re pursuing a pregnancy discrimination or a disability discrimination case, and you have evidence that your employer fired you one week after you notified the employer of your pregnancy or disability, then that timing evidence is very strong in pointing toward discrimination as the real reason for your firing.

Published on: November 27, 2019

When Going Along to Get Along Goes Horribly Wrong: One New Jersey Worker’s Successful Hostile Work Environment Litigation

by Phillips & Associates

Anyone that’s every worked in an office environment knows that there are certain awkward interpersonal interactions that one must navigate in order to succeed in the workplace. There are things that you’d rather avoid, but sometimes you don’t, just so you can be sure you’re seen as a good “team player.” For one Atlantic County school system employee, though, her effort to be a “team player” eventually turned for the worse and allegedly made her workplace a hostile environment.

That alleged hostile work environment eventually landed the employee, according to a nj.com report, a $185,000 settlement. If you think you were the victim of a hostile environment at work, you should contact an experienced New Jersey hostile work environment attorney about your case.

According to the employee’s complaint, problems started after a new business administrator, P.Y., came on board at the school district and expressed to P.B., who was a secretary for the district, that he was physically attracted to one of P.B.’s friends. P.Y. alleged asked P.B. to facilitate a meeting with the friend, who was also a secretary working for the district, imploring P.B. to “hook a brother up.” P.B. asked the administrator to stop, but he didn’t.

Published on: November 20, 2019

When the Discrimination You’ve Suffered Requires You to Go Through an Administrative Hearing and a Trial in New Jersey

by Phillips & Associates

If you’ve been the victim of discrimination in New Jersey, there may be certain circumstances where you have to argue your case before multiple bodies. For example, some situations may lead to your arguing in an administrative hearing and then later at a civil trial.

If your discrimination case is one of these procedurally complex matters, it is especially important that you have representation from a skilled New Jersey employment discrimination attorney. Your knowledgeable attorney can help, not only in putting together the factual evidence and legal arguments you need, but also in navigating all of the extra procedural hurdles that may exist in your pursuit of the compensation you need.

J.D.R. was one of those employees facing that kind of challenging case. He was a Hispanic male who worked as a housekeeping supervisor at one of the state’s centers for people with developmental disabilities. During his time working at the center, the supervisor had several absences. Even with his attendance history, the employee received a positive performance evaluation in 2015.

Published on: November 12, 2019

What Is “Sex-Plus” Discrimination and How Can This Legal Concept Help You If You’ve Been Fired or Denied Employment in New Jersey?

by Phillips & Associates

Discrimination law has come a long way in the last half-century. As recently as 50 years ago, a major aviation company refused to hire women if they were mothers to very young children. 30 years ago, American Airlines still had a policy that called for the termination of female flight attendants if they were anything more than quite thin. For example, a 5’5” tall female flight attendant could be fired if she weighed 130 pounds or more.

Today, these types of employment actions and policies could potentially give a harmed worker a winning discrimination claim. They potentially represent a subset of discrimination law called “sex-plus” discrimination. In these circumstances, the employers aren’t committing “regular” sex discrimination, but are discriminating based on “sex plus” one other characteristic, such as sex plus motherhood status. It’s against the law and, if you have been harmed at work due to this type of discrimination, you may be entitled to a significant sum of damages, so you should take the time to contact an experienced New Jersey sex discrimination attorney right away.

Regrettably, this type of discrimination still occurs. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals looked at such a case last year, ruling for the fired employee. That employee, K.C.R., took a job in 2015 as a Pennsylvania-based district manager for a chain of adult bookstores. Her employment duration was extremely short. Her first day was Nov. 9. On Thursday, Nov. 19, she texted C.M., the man who had hired her, to tell him that she had gotten married that previous weekend. On Friday, Nov. 20, she was fired.

Published on: November 5, 2019

A New Jersey Court Allows a Worker to Sue Both Her Employer and the Entity that Provided ‘Human Resources Support’ for Pregnancy Discrimination

by Phillips & Associates

Earlier this fall, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s relatively brief stint as a New Jersey educator became a “hot” topic in the news, especially in relation to the issue of pregnancy discrimination. According to Sen. Warren, her employment as a speech pathologist in Morris County ended in June 1971 when her principal told her she would not be returning in the fall. Warren was six months pregnant at the time.

One might like to think that we’ve moved past the point of employers thinking that, simply because a woman becomes pregnant, that her pregnancy makes her physically feeble, emotionally unstable or otherwise incapable of doing her job. Or that, just because a woman is “showing,” she should not be seen in a workplace. Unfortunately, in too many situations, you’d be wrong to think that. Fortunately, there are laws in New Jersey to protect workers harmed by pregnancy discrimination. If you’re been victimized by this kind of mistreatment, be sure to sure reach out to an experienced New Jersey pregnancy discrimination attorney without delay to discover what legal options may be available to you.

S.P. was a woman who allegedly faced this kind of harm at work. According S.P.’s court documents (Essex County Superior Court Law Division Docket No. L-296-19), a few weeks after she began working for a dermatological medical practice, she told her employer that she was pregnant.

Published on: October 29, 2019

The New Jersey Appellate Division Revives the Disability Discrimination Case of a Woman Fired Three Weeks After Returning Following Surgery

by Phillips & Associates

Sometimes, the facts in your disability discrimination case may seem to be unfavorable, or may seem to you to present an insurmountable hill to climb to reach a successful outcome. Don’t let those “difficult” facts scare you. It may turn out that what seems to you to spell doom is actually nota “deal-breaker” for your case. A skilled New Jersey discrimination attorney may know how to take those facts, difficult ones and all, and still guide your case to get you your day in court.

Check out this case. A.C. was an employee working for a major cable television provider. In 2013, three months after her divorce, A.C. sent a copy of her final divorce judgment to her employer’s human resources department. She also sent HR paperwork about her application to change her name and get a new Social Security.

According to A.C., she thought that was all she needed to do, and that HR would handle everything else the employer needed to do from there, including taking her (now ex-)husband off her employer-provided insurance. Two years later, the employer fired A.C. after 15 years on the job. The firing took place three weeks after A.C. returned to work from gallbladder surgery.

Published on: October 21, 2019

New Jersey Transit Employee Wins Her Age and Race Discrimination Lawsuit and a $848,000 Damages Award

by Phillips & Associates

Weighing a decision to pursue a discrimination lawsuit can be incredibly stressful. If you’re suing your current employer, it may feel terrifying to contemplate taking the entity responsible for your livelihood to court. Even if your discrimination came at the hands of a former employer, you may fear that a discrimination lawsuit will “follow” you around, leaving you blackballed in your industry. It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to discrimination but, with the right New Jersey employment attorney, you can succeed and potentially recover a substantial sum in compensation for your damages.

An example of that occurred recently when an employee of New Jersey’s state-owned public transportation system sued her employer… and won. As reported by nj.com, the plaintiff, O.A., was 20+-year employee of NJ Transit who, in 2013, applied for the position of senior director. According to the report, the position required 8 years of transportation experience plus a degree in “bachelor’s degree in planning, engineering, public administration, economics or business.”

O.A., in addition to her two-plus decades of transportation experience, also had the relevant education experience, including two master’s degrees, according to the report. The successful candidate was a woman who had zero prior transportation experience and a bachelor’s degree in political science. The successful candidate was white (O.A. was African American,) and was also much younger than O.A.