In a noteworthy unpublished employment law decision, earlier this month New Jersey’s Appellate Division upheld a jury award to an employee on a retaliation claim where the primary evidence of retaliation was the fact that the employee’s supervisors were unfriendly to him after he complained about discrimination. Anthony Onuoha, who…
New Jersey has a very broad whistleblower law, the Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA). CEPA protects employees from retaliation when they object to, disclose, or refuse to participate in an activity they reasonably believe (1) is in violation of a law, or a rule or regulation written pursuant to law,…
The New Jersey Appellate Division recently ruled, in an employment law case in which the same law firm represented two clients, and only one of those clients won at trial, it was improper to reduce the attorney’s fee award by 50%. Many employment laws, including New Jersey’s Conscientious Employee Protection…
Last week, I discussed the case of Thomas Bowers, an IT Professional who won his appeal of his race discrimination case against the New Jersey Judiciary. That case, Bowers v. New Jersey Judiciary, Superior Court of New Jersey, Monmouth Vicinage, also discusses Mr. Bowers’ retaliation claim. Mr. Bowers filed an…
Earlier this year, the United States Supreme Court ruled that an employee can pursue a retaliation claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 based on being fired because his fiancée objected to discrimination by the same employer. Title VII is a federal law that prohibits employment…
On April 14, 2011, New Jersey’s Appellate Division ruled that filing an employment discrimination lawsuit can be a protected “whistleblower” activity under the New Jersey Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA). Among other things, CEPA prohibits New Jersey employers from retaliating against an employee because he discloses or threatens to disclose…
On February 28, 2011, New Jersey’s Appellate Division issued an unpublished opinion ruling that a jury should decide whether the New Jersey Department of Corrections (“DOC”) retaliated against one of its employees, Bienvenido Montalvo. Mr. Montalvo Filed a National Origin Discrimination Complaint With the EEOC Mr. Montalvo worked for DOC…
As an employment lawyer, I am often asked whether an employee can take copies of documents from their job to help prove discrimination or retaliation. There is no simple answer to that question. Rather, as the New Jersey Supreme Court recognized last week in Quinlan v. Curtiss-Wright Corporation, the answer…
On November 10, 2010, New Jersey’s Appellate Division ruled that a civil service employee can bring a lawsuit alleging that discipline against him was retaliatory even if he did not appeal a Civil Service Commission decision upholding the discipline. In Racanelli v. County of Passaic, James Racanelli sued the County…
The False Claims Act is a federal whistleblower law. It allows individuals who have information about a company defrauding the federal government to bring lawsuits on behalf of the federal government. Someone who brings a case under the False Claims Act can receive between 15% and 25% of any money…