Current Events

Employees may sense that something is wrong in their workplace in terms of the employer’s non-discrimination practices when the employer seems to have no illegal bias at all. Nevertheless, their eyes may tell a different story and discern a distinct and irrational imbalance in the workplace demography as to sex, race, age, etc. While the employer may have no intent to discriminate, an employer’s policies that appear on their face to be neutral could curtail the hiring, promotion and retention of certain protected classes of person, or lead to disparate impact discrimination. See NJ Sex Discrimination Attorney, I’m a Female Executive Unfairly Evaluated.

Disparate Impact Discrimination, What Is It? And Is it Legal?

Unlike most discrimination claims, disparate impact claims do not require proof of a discriminatory motive.

Whistleblowing on illegal acts of your employer can entail risks. Particularly when it is an upper-level manager who does the whistleblowing, the employee may fear it is tantamount to disloyalty, resulting in career building suicide, and be hesitant to whistleblow even though they feel they are ethically obligated to do so.

If the whistleblower first follows statutory mandated steps, employees who object to an employer’s illegal acts have statutory rights. Retaliation against a complaining New Jersey employee is prohibited under the Conscientious Employee Protection Act §§ 34:19-1 — 34:19-14, (CEPA). New Jersey upper-level corporate managers can whistleblow on their company when they reasonably believe the company is engaging in illegal activities, violating legal regulations, or endangering public health and safety.

A new transparency in pay law will take effect mandating that most New Jersey employers disclose pay and benefits for new jobs and for promotion opportunities in their job postings.

New Jersey Governor Murphy issued a press release as to bills Senate/2310 and Assembly/4151 being signed into law which shall require employer transparency as to employee compensation and opportunities for promotion in most employment job listings. This new law will take effect in New Jersey on June 1, 2025. 

This new law attempts to eradicate disparity in pay based on being a member of a protected class such as sex, race, age, etc., similar to goals of Unequal Pay and Wage Claims - Diane B.

The tech industry with its rapidly evolving and nascent artificial intelligence is known for its accelerating  pace and constant evolution. With or without the redefining of duties for executives, managers, and product developers, this sometimes leads to significant workforce changes, including layoffs. For tech employees, understanding the legal landscape surrounding layoffs in the tech industry, particularly concerning age discrimination, is crucial. These laws provide important safeguards for older employees, particularly in the industry notorious for favoring youth. By understanding the legal protections offered under the federal and applicable state law, executives can better advocate for their rights and seek appropriate remedies if discrimination occurs.

If you are a New Jersey employee and your employer denied your request for a reasonable accommodation for your disability to allow you to keep working, you should contact this office immediately for a free consultation. We have locations in Northern, Central, Southern and Western NJ to meet with clients and accept cases from all over the state. This law firm has successfully represented numerous employees who had visible or hidden disabilities which were temporary, permanent, or intermittent, who had their rights violated, and was successful in obtaining for them the reasonable accommodations required to enable them to remain employed, recovered money for pain and suffering; and was successful in financial remuneration for lost wages, both past and future lost wages, in termination cases. DON’T SIT ON YOUR RIGHTS! Contact us today for a free consultation.

ACCOMMODATIONS ARE REQUIRED FOR PERMANENT, INTERMITTENT, OR TEMPORARY, VISIBLE OR HIDDEN DISABILITY.

Some employers will fire an employee before the beginning of the new year alleging the employee’s job was being eliminated in a “restructuring”. Devious employers, to mask their illegal discrimination in the firing decision, will sometimes choose the end of the year to terminate the employee, citing an alleged business restructure plan to take effect in January, for the sole purpose of bolstering their bogus allegation that the employee’s position is being eliminated for bone fide business reasons.

If you think your employer may have chosen you to terminate in a bogus “Job Elimination” because of an illegal bias, such as because of your age, race, disability etc., or because you complained at about what you believed to be the employer’s unsafe or illegal practices, you may be right. See

An employee who whistleblows on fraud committed against the Federal Government, such as a healthcare worker reporting Medicare fraud or an employee working for a contractor who contracts with the US government, possibly may be able to bring a claim under the False Claims Act,  and by filing a Qui Tam Complaint may be able to receive a percentage of the government’s recovered funds under what is known as the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act (FCA), 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729 et seq. Non-employees who report such fraud on the Federal Government may also file Qui Tam Complaints.

When NJ employees think of whistleblower claims, they may commonly think of the claims filed under New Jersey Conscientious Protection Act. See New Jersey Whistleblower Laws Attorney. These arise when an employer retaliates against an employee reported or objected or refused to participate in any activity, policy or practice they believed to be illegal. To read more, see NJ Employment Attorney, Auditor Employees have Whistleblower Protection.

Employees and Non-Employees and the False Claims Act

However, employees who have knowledge their employer is committing fraud against the United States Government, such as Medicare fraud or contractors fraudulently billing the US government for work never done, possibly may bring a claim under the Federal False Claims Act (FCA), and receive a percentage of recovered funds under what is known as the qui tam provisions.

Civil rights statutes, originally conceived to end discrimination against descendants of enslaved persons, the African Americans, have not fully achieved their goals. Sadly, in spite of state and federal anti-discrimination laws, some employers discriminate in employment on the basis of race. This race-based disparity ranges from situations readily discernable, such as when African Americans hold identical job titles and are assigned the same job duties as their Caucasian co-workers, but the employer pays higher wages to the Caucasians. Other disparities may not be as easily detectible, such as when the workers are assigned different job titles yet the minority workers suffer a disparity in pay for doing essentially the same type of work. A broader basis for disparity against Black workers is the employer’s failure to promote.

As the year 2024 winds down, advocates for employee, consumer, environmental, healthcare, and civil rights are concerned that a 2024 US Supreme Court split 6/3 opinion could negatively affect employee workplace protections, environmental safety and many aspects of public safety in years to come. The US Supreme Court in Loper Bright Enters. v. Raimondo, 144 S. Ct.

Older workers with a disability are too frequently illegally discriminated against in employment. This happens due to a two-fold prejudice: ageism coupled with ableism. Ableism is a set of values or beliefs that devalue and discriminate against persons with disabilities based on the belief that persons without disabilities are more capable and valuable than persons with disabilities. Ageism is a predisposition and misconception that older employees are not as productive and possess less capability to take on new tasks or acquire new skills than their younger counterparts.

If you think you are being pushed out of your job because of your age and/or disability, you should contact this office immediately for a free consultation.