Employment

If your boss starts treating you poorly or discriminates against you because he/she learn of your association with person(s) of a race other than your own race or ethnicity, that is “Associational Discrimination”. The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination is sufficiently latitudinous to allow race and ethnic discrimination claims to proceed based on the Plaintiff’s association with a person of a different race or ethnicity.

By way of example, a white waitress works at her job for several years, and when the employer learns she is dating a Black man, her shifts get cut. A long-term worker brings her children to an employer-sponsored party where the employer learns that her children are bi-racial, and subsequently the promotion she was promised is given to someone else. Or a secretary who is known at work to be Jewish tells her boss that she is married to an Egyptian Muslim, and she thereafter is “let go” in a bogus restructuring.

Under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, NJSA, 10:5-4, it is illegal for an employer to discriminate in employment, its advantages and privileges, because a person is a member of a protected class under the statute. This is a declared civil right.

In spite of progress made in the LGBTQ’s Rights Movement, there still exists stigmas in some workplaces for workers who are gender non-conforming. Men who exhibit what is considered to be traditionally feminine traits and woman who express contrary to feminine stereotypes may be passed over for promotions or harassed by co-workers.

Whether you are non-binary, non-cisgender, or transsexual, harassment and discrimination based on one’s being a certain sexual orientation is prohibited just as discrimination based on gender identity or sex is prohibited.

In New Jersey, it is illegal for an employer to discriminate against you because he perceives you to be disabled, irrespective of whether you actually are disabled or not. If this happens, you may have a valid claim for illegal employment discrimination under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination even if you are not disabled.

The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination is broad enough to prohibit discrimination because of perceived handicaps even if you are not in fact handicapped. If your employer thinks you are handicapped or disabled, it may be a valid claim in some situations even if you are not disabled.

Many subsequent cases of perceived disability discrimination cite back to a 1982 NJ Supreme Court case, Andersen v.

When a long-term employee learns that other employees who are doing the same job and who and have worked less years for the employer, are earning more money than she/he, it can be shocking and hurtful. Particularly when the employee has logged in many years of loyal service. It appears counter-intuitive but “seniority” as to employees’ legal rights is illusory in many employment contexts including as to pay grades. The exceptions are when an employee is deemed to have certain seniority rights because they are covered by a bone fide merit system, Civil Service Commission rules, or in some instances by terms of a collective bargaining agreement or other contract. The majority of government employees in state and local government are covered by New Jersey’s Civil Service System.

Employees have come to me wanting to know if an arbitration agreement they signed at work is enforceable. According to a recent ruling by a Federal Court in New Jersey, it is enforceable. N.J. Civil Justice Inst.

In this year 2021, Black employees at work may experience racism that is blatantly horribly racist, which happens much more frequently than many Caucasian people find believable. Unfortunately, being called the n-word by supervisors and/or co-workers still happens too frequently especially in blue collar and physical labor jobs. I have filed lawsuits on behalf of workers who were called the n-word and other racist epithets at work and was successful in recovering money to compensate them for their pain and suffering.

Black employees of all levels may experience discrimination at work in spite of attempts to raise awareness about the struggles of Blacks such as the recent commemoration of Juneteenth as a national holiday, the first time celebrated as a Federal holiday was June 19, 2021. Juneteenth marks June 19, 1865 when Black slaves in Texas were told about their freedom, however at that point the 13^th Amendment had not been ratified.

While the rights of LGBTQ persons are becoming more accepted, as with the recent Presidential  Proclamation on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Pride Month making June LGBTQ Pride month, employment discrimination based on biased gender stereotyping and other forms of sexual identity, gender orientation and sexual orientation still exist.

June was chosen as the special month for LGBTQ Pride because the Stonewall riots took place in June of 1969. The Stonewall riots in New York City are the most widely known of LGBTQ resistance/confrontation historical events. While the Stonewall rebellion was not the first such public resistance/confrontation against systemic harassment and arresting of LGBTQ persons in modern times, it is the one that made the lasting difference. For a history of the Stonewall Riots, click here.

New Jersey employers may require employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in order to enter the physical workplace according to policy issued on NJ State Government website. The EEOC issued a press release last week with a similar stance, that Federal laws do not prevent an employer from requiring all employees physically entering the workplace to be vaccinated for COVID-19, so long as employers comply with the reasonable accommodation provisions of the ADA and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

An exception to a mandatory vaccine policy may be when an employee has been advised by their medical doctor not to get the COVID-19 vaccine while pregnant or breastfeeding. Other possible exceptions are when an employee has a disability that prevents them from receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, or has a sincerely held religious belief, practice or observance that precludes them from getting vaccinated, i.e.

As experience attorneys know, there are no guaranteed wins in court, no guaranteed slam dunks even in what would appear to be cases with simple issues. Courts disagree among one another and Justices in the same Court frequently disagree among themselves when rendering a decision. A recent case involving an unemployment appeal is illustrative. In this matter, The NJ Supreme Court recently considered whether pretrial detention premised on charges that are later dismissed should be considered a voluntary separation from work that automatically disqualifies an applicant from unemployment benefits under the Unemployment Compensation Law.

The claimant Haley was denied unemployment benefits and he appealed the denial of benefits.

If Harriet Tubman were to be alive today, it is likely she would be working to get the Bill to restore the Voting Rights Act, introduced by the Senate on July 22, 2020, passed. This bill is named after John Lewis, the civil rights leader who served in the United States House of Representatives for Georgia's 5th congressional district from 1987 until his death in 2020. This bill is a response to the Supreme Court’s 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision which set aside major parts of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which eliminated barriers making it difficult for Blacks to vote. The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would require that any state with a history of voting discrimination within the past 25 years to seek federal approval before making any changes to its voting procedures.