Current Events

For continuity,  Part I of this article may be reviewed here.

Post-Civil War: Jim Crow

Following the abolition of slavery, there still existed government mandated segregation by race and oppression due to race across the board. Apartheid, euphemistically known as “Jim Crow” in the United States, began in the 1870's post slavery at the end of the period of Reconstruction. “Jim Crow” laws were government mandated racial segregation in all public facilities in the states of the former Confederate States of America and in some border states and other states. Jim Crow laws were outlawed, theoretically in 1964 with the Civil Rights Act, although some still were in effect.

Centuries of racial oppression and strife unfortunately have not been eliminated within this 21^st century. Persisting cultural racism exists in many of this country’s institutional and business practices including in high-end professional occupations. There is a close proximity in time to the institution of slavery to persons living today. There is an even closer temporal proximity to the the time of “Jim Crow” or government mandated apartheid. Unfortunately, deeply ingrained cultural racial ideology, has a persisting existence in present time despite the passage of Civil Rights Statutes.

https://www.eeoc.gov/reports/state-age-discrimination-and-older-workers-us-50-years-after-age-discrimination-employment.

Older women may experience more age discrimination in the workplace than men. Sex discrimination and age discrimination go hand-in-hand and are a workplace reality for many older female workers.

Centuries of racial oppression and strife unfortunately have not been eliminated within a few generations. Despite the passage of civil rights statutes making it illegal to discriminate based on race, cultural racism still has a persisting existence manifesting in many of this country’s cultural ideologies and institutional and business practices. The implementation of anti-discrimination statutes often fail when the statute does not list specific examples of such underlying cultural bias. The passage of laws to outlaw cultural bias, which do define specific examples of systemic racism, is helpful to nudge the country forward toward eliminating centuries’ old underlying cultural bias.

One such law to outlaw cultural bias is the CROWN Act, signed by NJ Gov.

In New Jersey, a plaintiff may file an age discrimination claim under the the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination ( “NJLAD”) in state court without having to first exhaust the time consuming administrative process required by the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). The NJLAD is a New Jersey state law that applies to private, municipal, county and state employers, all employers in New Jersey (except for certain federal employers).

In the recent ruling in Babb v. Wilkie, 140 S. Ct.

Recent news reporting of police brutality has resulted in many persons having a heightened interest in Federal Law regarding abuses by persons acting under color of state law, particularly in regards to racial bias, following George Floyd’s death on May 25th, a black man who died in police custody following a brutal police assault that was captured in a bystander video which went viral. The deprivation of rights by police officers is prohibited in many state statutes and in the Federal Statute, 42 USCS § 1983. When a person is acting in an official government capacity, such as a police officer, he is acting under “color of state law.” A police officer does not have to be on the clock or in uniform to be acting under  “color of state law.” If off-duty police officers flash their badge to represent they are acting within the scope of their police authority, their acts may still be covered under 42 USCS § 1983.

Sad but true, some NJ employers still skirt labor laws under the Fair Labor Standards Act to avoid paying overtime. However, there are stiff penalties for employers who do so. See NJ Employees and Wage Theft Act- NJ Wage Payment Law Amendments.

Certain employers will have a blanket rule as to no-overtime-pay-for-anyone, even when the staff regularly works over 40 hours in a workweek.

In some workplaces,  an employer may only fail to pay overtime based on illegal discriminatory reasons, such as not paying it to women or to persons of a certain race.

U.S. Supreme Court on July 8, 2020, upheld the employer’s religious exemption to the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) contraceptive mandate, in Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter & Paul Home v. Pennsylvania. Under the ACA’s contraceptive mandate, most employers are required by law to provide health insurance to employees that includes coverage for certain types of contraceptives.

On July 8, the US Supreme Court in Our Lady of Guadalupe Sch. v. Morrissey-Berru ruled that religious employers are given wide latitude as to religious exemptions for their employees, which exempted employees are thereby prohibited from filing discrimination claims under federal law. The Court’s holding means that the “ministerial exemption” applies to a much broader group of employees than just ordained ministers or formally titled religious leaders.

Listen to US Supreme Court oral arguments in in Our Lady of Guadalupe Sch.

There have been hundreds of protests against systemic racism and police brutality in New Jersey in the wake of George Floyd’s death on May 25^th, a black man who died in police custody in Minnesota following a brutal police assault that was captured in a bystander video which went viral. George Floyd's death as well as countless other deaths of blacks, do not exist in a time vacuum, as historical racism against blacks continues through the centuries globally. Persons around the world are participating in demonstrations against racism sparked by the death of George Floyd.

To date, the rapid response of NJ residents in organized marches in response to the murder of George Floyd is almost too large to tally as they continue. Ordinary citizens who had not been civil rights activists before, assumed successful leadership roles in organizing marches and protests to combat systemic racism.