Current Events

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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”.

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.

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.

In today’s NJ workplace, illegal pregnancy discrimination is all too common against female executives, middle, and lowered tiered employees across all industries. Unlike other types of discrimination such as race and ethnicity, it is rarely directly or overtly hostile but is frequently annoyingly insensitive at best and results in the worker being severed from her job at worst. The majority of employers are aware that pregnancy discrimination is illegal and take measures to mask their discriminatory actions fearing legal action by the employee.

If you are an employee at any level whose employer is not providing reasonable accommodations for your pregnancy or related medical condition, and the terms and conditions of your employment have changed, or your contract was not renewed, you should contact this office today for a free consultation. I am experienced and successful in recovering moneys as a result of pregnancy discrimination for lost wages, both past lost wages and projected future lost wages, and for recovering financial compensation for their emotional pain and suffering.