The New Jersey Supreme recently ruled that evidence showing an employer told a key witness to provide false information during a company’s internal sexual harassment investigation can be relevant at the trial. Tonique Griffin, Virginia Best and Rosalyn Walker, three female employees of the City of East Orange, claim their supervisor,…
A recent decision by New Jersey’s Appellate Division makes it clear that merely having an anti-harassment policy does not insulate employers from sexual harassment lawsuits. The ruling comes on the heels of the New Jersey Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this year in Aguas v. State of New Jersey, which created…
In a recent employment law case, Davis v. Husain, the New Jersey Supreme Court held that a judge may not engage in any communication with a member of the jury outside of the presence of the lawyers involved in the case (known as ex parte communications), including discussions after the…
New Defense to Sexual Harassment Claims Earlier this week, in Aguas v. State of New Jersey, the New Jersey Supreme Court provided employers a new defense to sexual harassment claims under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (“LAD”). Specifically, the Court adopted a defense that previously applied only in federal…
A recent federal case from the District of New Jersey denied an employer’s motion for summary judgment on an employee’s sexual harassment case, paving the way for a jury trial. In the process, the court provided a good overview of what an employee needs to prove to be able to…
Earlier this month, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued an unpublished summary order which reinstates an employee’s sexual harassment claim that had been dismissed. However, in a separate published opinion issued on the same day the court upheld the dismissal of Ms. Castagna’s related tort…
Earlier this month, a federal judge ruled that neither the New York Human Rights Law (NYHRL) nor the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) protect unpaid interns from a sexually hostile work environment. Lihuan Wang worked as an unpaid intern for Phoenix Satellite TV US, a company that produces…
Earlier this year, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit clarified how the New York City Human Rights Law (“NYCHRL”) applies to a sexual harassment claim. In the process, the court ruled that Renee Mihalik can proceed with her case against her former employer, Credit Agricole Cheuvreux…
A question that often comes up in sexual harassment cases is whether you can rely on harassment you learned about secondhand to help prove your case. For example, can you use the fact that one of your coworkers told you that someone else made sexually offensive comments about you to…
When an employee brings a harassment claim under federal law, one element of her claim is that she was harmed by the harassment. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals recently recognized that an employee can meet that requirement even though she personally sent emails containing sexual jokes at work. The…