Earlier this month, in Pritchett v. State, the New Jersey Supreme Court confirmed that the state of New Jersey and municipalities remain subject to punitive damages under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (“LAD”). Shelley Pritchett worked for the State of New Jersey as a Senior Corrections Officer at the…
A recent District of New Jersey opinion emphasizes the importance of recertifying an intermittent Family & Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) leave when your employer asks you to do so. An intermittent leave is when you seek permission to take time off, as needed in the future. Matthew Calio is a…
One potential defense an employer has in a sexual harassment case is that the employee unreasonably failed to make use of the employer’s anti-harassment policy. A recent New Jersey Appellate Division opinion highlights the fact that this defense does not apply if the harassment led to an adverse employment action,…
Earlier this year, the New Jersey Supreme Court recognized that an employee who quits a job to accept another job offer, only to have the new employer withdraw its offer, may be able to recover “reliance damages.” In other words, he might be able to recover damages based on the…
A recent decision from the District of New Jersey concludes that, when an employer claims it fired an employee as part of a corporate restructuring, but has no documents to prove there was a restructuring, can be enough to prove age discrimination in violation of New Jersey law. In 2014,…
Yesterday, a unanimous New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that two racially offensive slurs uttered by a supervisor can be enough to create a hostile work environment in violation of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (“LAD”). Armando Rios, Jr. is Hispanic. He worked for Meda Pharmaceutical, Inc. as its Director…
Today, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that an employee does not need to suffer an adverse employment action to win a claim based on the employer’s failure to accommodate her disability under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (“LAD”). Mary Richter is a teacher for the Oakland Board of…
New Jersey’s Appellate Division has recognized that, although a client has the absolute right to fire its in-house counsel, the lawyer is entitled to damages if the employer fired him without cause, in breach of an employment contract. Kirk Nelson worked as in-house counsel for the Elizabeth Board of Education. …
An employee bringing an age discrimination claim does not need to state the age of the individuals who replaced him in the lawsuit. Rather, at that early stage, it is sufficient to assert that his replacement was “significantly younger” than him. That was the ruling of the Third Circuit Court…
Last month, the New Jersey Supreme Court addressed the New Jersey Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA”) for the first time. The PWFA is an amendment to the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (“LAD”) that prohibits pregnancy discrimination. Kathleen Delanoy is a police officer. She filed a lawsuit in which she…