I was quoted in New Jersey Business Magazine’s September 2017 edition in an article about mass layoffs. You can read the article, Handling Business Closings and Layoffs, online. In the article, I discuss the fact that employers often use mass layoffs to hide discrimination or retaliation. Specifically, it is common…
The United States Supreme Court recently ruled that in constructive discharge cases the 45-day deadline for federal employees to contact the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) begins on the day the employee resigned. A constructive discharge occurs when an employee resigns after the “working conditions become so intolerable…
I am pleased to report that I recently settled an employment law case against the Borough of Bogota, New Jersey for $2.25 million on behalf of my client, Police Officer Regina Tasca. I handled the case with my co-counsel, Catherine M. Elston, Esq. Our client was the first and only…
There is no one way to predict the precise value of an employment law case before a trial. Among other things, juries do not necessarily use any particular formula, and verdicts often represent compromises. However, it is possible to estimate what you might receive if you win your case at…
A constructive discharge occurs when an employer makes an employee’s working conditions so intolerable that she is forced to resign. This type of forced resignation is legally actionable if it caused by an illegal factor, such as unlawful discrimination or retaliation. Last week, New Jersey’s Appellate Division explained that when…
Last week, I discussed Shipe v. Saker Shoprites, Inc. a gender discrimination case which recognizes Employers Can Be Held Liable For Discrimination Even if Decision-Maker Has No Bias. Unfortunately, the Appellate Division found another basis to reverse the jury’s verdict and take away Ms. Shipe’s nearly $900,000 judgment. However, it…
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed a Newark police officer’s $700,000 verdict in a wrongful termination case. The case was brought by Jose Montalvo, who was a police officer for the City of Newark from 1990 to 2006. On April 22, 2005, he filed an affirmative action complaint,…
Earlier this year, New York’s Court of Appeals dismissed a wrongful termination lawsuit brought by a Compliance Officer who objected about an unethical stock transaction by the company’s President and Chief Executive Officer. In doing so, New York’s highest court refused to extend an exception to the employment at-will doctrine.…
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…
Last week, in Walker v. Guiffre and Humphries v. Powder Mill Shopping Plaza, the New Jersey Supreme Court upheld the longstanding rule that a plaintiff can receive an enhanced attorney fee award under New Jersey laws that allow a prevailing plaintiff to recover his attorneys’ fees from the defendant. This…