Current Events

Monday, October 2, 2023

NJ Employment Discrimination Attorney, Racist Name Calling, Extreme Harassment and Retaliation against Black Workers


As reported in the press and other media this past week, a large class action law suit was filed against a major corporation alleging that hundreds of Black workers for an automobile manufacturer in California were regularly subjected to extreme racist harassment including use of the n–word. The lawsuit alleges that Black employees routinely faced racial slurs, including variations of the n-word, and graffiti depicting nooses, swastikas and more were drawn across the facility’s public spaces.

Many persons who are not Black may be shocked at reading this reported news. They may be more shocked, and actually be in a state of disbelief, that this type of extreme racism in the workplace, including in workplaces in New Jersey, is more prevalent than as reported in the news.

Racial equilibrium in the US workplace including New Jersey is erroneously assumed by many to be the current state of relative societal norms.


Read more . . .


Monday, September 25, 2023

NJ Discrimination Attorney How Can I Prove Discrimination If No Witnesses?


Employees may sense they are being discriminated at work because of their age, race, sex, or other legally protected class. Yet they may think that they will not be able to prove discrimination against them if they cannot name a witness of the racist or sexist etc., biased behavior. This is not true.

There is rarely a smoking gun which may be incontrovertible evidence of direct discrimination, examples: a supervisor’s telling other employees, “We need younger workers,” or a manager giving directions to HR that, “[ A certain ethnic group] is trouble, don’t hire them,” or, “Women always make trouble, they are taking over,” or employees who testify that the employer uses racist epithets.


Read more . . .


Monday, September 18, 2023

NJ Age Discrimination Attorney, Chemical and Biomedical Engineers Face Severe Age Discrimination


Age discrimination is a serious problem that affects many professional employees. While it is widely known that severe ageism is so pervasive it is nefariously considered “the business norm” in computer technology fields, it is less widely known that severe age discrimination is especially prevalent in the Chemical and Biomedical Engineering fields, where innovation and technology are constantly evolving. Prejudice in the sense of a judgment or opinion formed predicated on a person’s age is the basis of all age discrimination, which opinion proves on examination to be unrelated to the employee’s job performance or to be completely nonexistent. There is a perception, not based on fact but on rumor and disinformation, promulgated in part through the internet, that younger Chemical and Biomedical Engineers will be more on the cutting edge of the latest research than their older counterparts. At to just how young an age this discriminatory falsehood has taken hold, is alarming, as evidenced by United States Government statistics.


Read more . . .


Monday, September 4, 2023

NJ Whistleblower Attorney, SEC Whistleblowers to Gain New Rights, SEC Whistleblower Reform Act of 2023


A bill called the SEC Whistleblower Reform Act of 2023 was introduced in the United States Senate to expand and protect the rights of SEC Whistleblowers. It was introduced in the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on March 15, 2023. It enhances the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

This bill, not yet passed into law, would expand and revise whistleblower protections applicable to individuals who provide information to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) relating to a violation of securities laws. President Joseph R.


Read more . . .


Monday, August 28, 2023

NJ Whistleblower Attorney, Corporate Executive Whistleblowers Have Greater Duty to Abide by Law than Be Loyal to the Company


As a general rule, NJ executives have a greater duty to abide by the law than to be loyal to the company. This is because the law imposes certain obligations and responsibilities on executives that may override, when in conflict, with their loyalty to the company.

Corporate Executive Whistleblowers May Experience Conflicts Between Loyalty to Company and Upholding the Law

Executives in a company have broad sweeping responsibilities which at times may lead to inner conflicts between a duty to uphold the law and a misconceived duty of blind loyalty to the company. In New Jersey, whistleblowers are protected by the Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA), which prohibits employers from retaliating against employees of all levels who act in good faith and in the public interest. An executive who discloses, or threatens to disclose to a superior or to a public body an activity, policy or practice of the employer, that he reasonably believes violates the law is engaged in protected whistleblowing activity.


Read more . . .


Monday, August 21, 2023

NJ Employment Lawyer, If I Complain about Racism Toward Another Employee Who Is Not Me, Is That Protected Activity?


If you are a NJ employee who reported to your employer about another co-worker general racist comments that you found disturbing, and your employer retaliated against you for such complaining, you may have a valid retaliation claim. If you complained to your employer about another co-worker racist comments about another employee who is not you or about a customer, and your employer retaliated against you for such complaining, you may have a valid retaliation claim.

A question that has been raised by many is if they reported to their employer about a co-worker’s sexist comments, lewd or otherwise, or age biased comments, or racist comments that were made in the workplace but not directed specifically at them, and their employer retaliated against them, could that be illegal retaliation? Under NJ Law, the answer is, “Yes”. If you are a worker who reported discrimination and your employer retaliated against you, you should contact this office today for a free consultation.

The NJ Supreme Court has made it clear that reporting biased statements against any protected class member is “protected” activity, and retaliation for such reporting may be actionable even when the biased statements were not directed at the reported employee or any identified member of that protected class.


Read more . . .


Monday, August 14, 2023

NJ Employment Lawyer, Contrived Fake Manager Title to Avoid Overtime Wages


There is an epidemic of companies who offer prospective or current employees a “Manager” position to avoid paying them overtime wages that the employers are legally obligated to pay the workers. Intentional job misclassification to avoid paying legal wages is constructive wage theft.

The Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), its counterpart the Federal Code of Regulations and New Jersey Wage and Hour Law which incorporates much of the FLSA, define the circumstances by which employees are exempt from the right to receive overtime payments.

Congress enacted the FLSA to eliminate both “substandard wages” and “oppressive working hours”. If you think your employer is depriving you of overtime hourly payment, you should contact this office for a free consultation.


Read more . . .


Monday, August 7, 2023

NJ Employment Attorney, Employees in Mass Layoffs Have Expanded Rights under NJ WARN Act


Sweeping Amendments to NJ WARN Act, § 34:21-1 et seq., went into effect on April 10, 2023. These Amendments increase the economic benefits to employees terminated in mass layoffs. In 2020, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed these sweeping amendments into law.


Read more . . .


Monday, July 31, 2023

NJ Age Discrimination Attorney, Hired When Older Than 50, What Is Evidence of Age Discrimination?


Many older workers who are being pushed out of their job or not being promoted feel it is because of their age, but they wonder if they have any evidence to prove age discrimination, particularly if they were hired when they were hired in their 50's or 60's. If you are a worker who is experiencing age discrimination, you should contact this office today for a free consultation. I accept clients from all over NJ. I have represented older employees who were pushed out of jobs because of their age and was successful in recovering financial compensation for their emotional pain and suffering and moneys for lost wages, both for past lost wages and projected future lost wages.

What is Relevant Evidence If I Was Hired When Older Than 50?

One of the first rules of evidence to prove age discrimination, or any kind of discrimination, is that it must be “Relevant Evidence”.


Read more . . .


Monday, July 24, 2023

NJ Employment Attorney, High "Salary" Employees May Be Entitled to Overtime


The US Supreme Court held earlier this year that certain highly compensated workers making over $200,000 a year, whose employers characterized them as being salaried employees, may still be entitled to overtime pay.

Some employers are cheating their employees out of legal wages by claiming the workers are so highly compensated for their labor and paid by a salary, that the overtime pay legal regulations automatically do not apply to them. As a result, some workers who work grueling exorbitant, and frequently unsafe, hours are paid substandard wages. Congress enacted the Fair labor Standards Act (FLSA) to eliminate both “substandard wages” and “oppressive working hours”. If you think your employer is depriving you of overtime hourly payment, you should contact this office for a free consultation.


Read more . . .


Monday, July 17, 2023

NJ Employment Attorney, Police Officers Refusing to Write Tickets Cannot Be Penalized


Police officers may choose their profession for numerous idealist reasons, i.e., protect people from harm, facilitate order, and upholding the law. One thing that did not motivate them in choosing this profession was the prospect of being treated as human cash registers and money generating machines for financially strapped municipalities and public entities. Yet, too often, police officers are seen and utilized as a free fund-raising opportunity by towns who are cash-strapped.


Read more . . .


Archived Posts

2024
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
2023
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
2022
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
2021
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
2020
December
November
October
September
August
July
March
February
January
2019
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
2018
December
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
2017
2016
December
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
2015



© 2024 Hope A. Lang, Attorney at Law | Disclaimer
912 Kinderkamack Road, Suite 3, River Edge, NJ 07661
| Phone: 201-599-9600

Employment/Civil Rights Law | Disability Law | Employee Performance Evaluations | Wills and Estate Planning | School Law and Educational Rights | Municipal Court Appearances | General Practice | | Employment Law | Testimonials

-
-