New Jersey Employment Lawyer Blog

Employer Cannot Fire Employee for Requesting Time Off for Disability

September 1, 2015 | by Jonathan I. Nirenberg

A recent employment law case from the District of New Jersey demonstrates that you might be entitled to time off from work for a disability under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (“LAD”) even if you are not protected by the Family & Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”).

Colleen Pizzo worked as a custodian for the Lindenwold Board of Education. Ms. Pizzo suffers from bipolar depression. She took several days off from work for depression after her girlfriend and coworker died in February 2012. A few months later she took approximately 6 weeks off for depression pursuant to the FMLA. She continued to take additional time off due to her depression after she returned from that medical leave.

By March 2013, Ms. Pizzo had taken 12 weeks of FMLA leave during the previous 12 months. She asked the Board to allow her to use “sick bank,” meaning sick leave donated by her coworkers, so she could take time off for “work-related stress.” The Board ignored her request.

Court Approval Needed to Dismiss Overtime Lawsuit

August 24, 2015 | by Jonathan I. Nirenberg

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that the parties to a lawsuit cannot agree to dismiss a case under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) as part of a settlement unless they have the approval of a Judge or the United States Department of Labor (“DOL”). The FLSA is a federal wage and hour law which establishes minimum wage and overtime requires.

Dorian Cheeks worked as a server for Freeport Pancake House, Inc. and W.P.S. Industries, Inc. He filed a lawsuit in the Eastern District of New York against both companies in which he asserted claims under the FLSA and New York Labor Law. He is seeking unpaid overtime pay and liquidated (double) damages, as well as attorneys’ fees. He also alleges that the Pancake House demoted him and eventually fired him because he objected about the company’s failure to properly pay overtime to him and its other employees, and is seeking damages for his past and future lost wages.

Mr. Cheeks and the Pancake House eventually agreed to settle the case. Accordingly, they filed a stipulation with the court seeking to have the case dismissed with prejudice. However, the court refused to dismiss the case. Instead, it directed the parties to file a copy of their settlement agreement as part of the public record, and to explain why they believe the settlement is “fair and reasonable.” The Court did so because the FLSA prohibits employees from waiving their rights under it unless their settlement agreement either was supervised by the DOL or approved by a court.

Ineffective Policy No Defense to Sexual Harassment Claims

August 14, 2015 | by Jonathan I. Nirenberg

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 a new affirmative defense for employers in sexual harassment cases under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (“LAD”). I discussed Aguas in my article: Importance of Reporting Sexual Harassment Reinforced by New Jersey Supreme Court.

The Appellate Division ruling involved Anita Jones, who worked for Mott’s LLP as a machine operator. For most of her employment, Ms. Jones was a temporary employee.

According to Ms. Jones, numerous Mott’s employees sexually harassed her. For example, she says the individual who initially trained her repeatedly touched her breasts. She says that when she objected, the harasser yelled at her. She did not report this sexual harassment to anyone because she was just a temporary employee. When she complained to a supervisor about the employee yelling at her, the supervisor promised he would take care of it. However, she alleges that when she complained to the same supervisor several other times he either put his arm around her shoulders or touched her back. She did not object to this harassment because the supervisor warned her that “temps come a dime a dozen and [if] one don’t do what you want, you get another one,” implying he would have her fired if she complained about him.

Apparent Authority Enough to Enforce Employment Agreement

August 5, 2015 | by Jonathan I. Nirenberg

A recent ruling by New Jersey’s Appellate Division makes it clear that, in some circumstances, an employee can enforce an employment contract even if the individual who entered into it on behalf of the company did not have the authority to do so.

The case was filed by four individuals, Arkadiusz Lukaszewski, Dariusz Gocal, Tadeusz Ogrodnik, and Ryszard Klysinski. They each worked for Jasticon, Inc. as bricklayers. They claim another employee, Piotr Zablocki, promised them “they would be given long-term employment” with Jasticon for “at least 18 months.” They also claim Mr. Zablocki assured them they would work on “big projects” in New Jersey and that they “would never run out of work.”

Nonetheless, the company fired them after less than a year. They subsequently filed a lawsuit in which they asserted numerous claims, including breach of an 18-month employment contract.

New York Raising Minimum Wage for Fast Food Workers

July 23, 2015 | by Jonathan I. Nirenberg

Yesterday afternoon, New York States’ Fast Food Wage Board approved a set of three resolutions that recommend raising the minimum wage for employees who work for fast food chains to $15 per hour. This would be $6.25 more than New York’s current $8.75 minimum wage.

The Fast Food Wage Board was formed the past May, at the request of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, to review wages in the fast-food industry.

Under the three resolutions, covered “Fast Food Establishments” include any business in New York State that serves food and drink (1) at which customers order and pay before they eat; (2) which provides “limited service,” which presumably means they offer limited or no table service; and (3) which are part of a chain that has at least 30 locations throughout the United States.

New Jersey’s Whistleblower Law Protects All Employees, Including “Watchdogs”

July 16, 2015 | by Jonathan I. Nirenberg

Yesterday, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that New Jersey’s whistleblower law, the Conscientious Employee Protection Act (“CEPA”), protects employees who blow the whistle about issues that relate to their job duties.

CEPA is a broad whistleblower law. It prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who, among other things, object to or refuse to participate in activities they reasonable believe are illegal, fraudulent, or violate a clear mandate of public policy relating to public health, safety, welfare or the environment. It also protects licensed medical professionals who object to or refuse to participate in activities they reasonably believe constitute improper quality of patient care.

On several occasions, New Jersey’s Appellate Division has ruled that employees are not protected by CEPA if their objections relate to their job duties. This threatened to dramatically limit the scope of CEPA’s protection since employees typically are in the best position to blow the whistle on activities related to their job functions.

Ruling Makes it Harder for Unpaid Interns to Bring Wage & Hour Claims

July 9, 2015 | by Jonathan I. Nirenberg

A recent decision by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals makes it more difficult for unpaid interns to successfully bring overtime and minimum wage claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and New York State’s wage and hour law. The FLSA is a federal law that requires employers to pay certain employees at least the minimum wage, and time-and-a-half when they work more than 40 hours per week. The Second Circuit handles appeals from federal courts in New York, Connecticut and Vermont.

The case was filed by Eric Glatt, Alexander Footman, Eden Antalik. Mr. Glatt and Mr. Footman worked for Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc. in connection with the movie Black Swan, and Ms. Antalik worked for the company in another capacity. Their job duties varied, but included things like copying and scanning documents, taking lunch orders, making deliveries, hotel reservations and catering arrangements, and taking out the trash. They worked between 30 and 50 hours per week. Fox classified all three as interns and did not pay them at all. They sued, claiming Fox failed to pay them minimum wage and overtime in violation of the FLSA and New York State law.

The United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) has a longstanding guidance which sets a very high requirement before a company can treat someone as an unpaid intern without violating the FLSA. Under it, an employer must pay an intern unless all six of the following conditions are met:

Court Must Reevaluate Whether Workers Are Independent Contractors or Employees

July 1, 2015 | by Jonathan I. Nirenberg

The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently ruled that the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey applied the wrong test to determine whether Sleepy’s LLC misclassified its delivery workers as independent contractors, rather than as employees. The case was decided under the New Jersey Wage Payment Law (“WPL”) and the New Jersey Wage and Hour Law (“WHL”).

The lawsuit was brought as a class action by Sam Hargrove, Andre Hall, and Marco Eusebio. They each worked for Sleep’s LLC as mattress delivery workers. They had signed Independent Driver Agreements (“IDAs”) which deemed them to be independent contractors rather than employees. Sleepy’s requires its delivery workers to sign similar agreements.

The workers claimed Sleepy’s misclassified them and the company’s other mattress delivery workers as independent contractors, rather than employees, in violation of the WPL, the WHL, the Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) and the Employee Retirement and Income Security Act (“ERISA”). For example, they claim Sleepy’s improperly withheld money from their wages in violation of the WPL, and failed to pay them overtime as required by the WHL.

Employee Prosecuted for Stealing Documents to Prove Discrimination Claim

June 26, 2015 | by Jonathan I. Nirenberg

Last week, the New Jersey Supreme Court permitted criminal charges to proceed against an employee who took documents from her employer to try to prove her employment discrimination and retaliation claims.

Ivonne Saavedra worked as a clerk for the North Bergen Board of Education. In 2009, she filed a lawsuit which included allegations that the Board had discriminated against her because of her race, ethnicity, national origin and gender, in violation of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (“LAD”). She also alleged retaliation in violation of the Conscientious Employee Protection Act (“CEPA”).

In her employment law case, Ms. Saavedra produced copies of documents she took from the Board while she was working for it. This included both originals and photocopies of documents that the Board claims contain “highly confidential student educational and medical records.” According to Ms. Saavedra, she took these documents in an effort to prove her discrimination and retaliation claims. She did so without the Board’s permission.

Employers Must Accommodate Job Candidate’s Religious Beliefs Without Request

June 22, 2015 | by Jonathan I. Nirenberg

The United States Supreme Court recently ruled that an employer cannot refuse to hire a job candidate because she needs a reasonable accommodation for her religious practice even if the prospective employee did not request an accommodation.

The decision was made under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a federal anti-discrimination law. Among other things, Title VII prohibits discrimination based on religion. For example, it prohibits employers from refusing to hire or from firing an employee because of his or her “religious observance and practice.” It also requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees for their religious practices, observances and beliefs.

The case, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc., involves Samantha Elauf, an individual who applied for a job at Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc. Ms. Elauf is a practicing Muslim who wears a headscarf. After interviewing Ms. Elauf, Abercrombie determined that she was qualified for the job. However, it did not offer her a position because the company’s “Look Policy” that prohibits employees from wearing “caps” because the company considers them to be too informal for its image. Abercrombie made this decision even though it realized Ms. Elauf’s probably wore her headscarf because of a religious belief.