Discrimination

​Many State and Federal laws cover whether if it is legal for an employer to fire an employee who is out of work due to medical reasons. The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows employees who are covered under the statute to have 12 weeks of unpaid sick/disability leave if they work for a covered employer. Whether or not the employer is one who must adhere to the FMLA, a “covered employer”, is dependent on a number of statutory factors including the number of employees. Even if the employer is a covered employer, not all employees who work for the employer and go out on medical leave, are “covered” employees who would otherwise be entitled to the 12 weeks of leave. But even if the FMLA does not apply in the case of an individual employee, there are other laws that might apply.

What does the term "at-will employment" mean and is it always relevant?·

"At-will employment" refers to the fact that, under normal circumstances, in most jobs, an employer can terminate your employment at any time, for any cause except for illegal reasons, without any prior notice to the employee. This law is not as universally known as one might imagine, and many employees are startled to find out that their employment can be abruptly terminated for no apparent reason. There are laws protecting the employee when the employer has broken a labor law or violated his or her civil rights, but, in many cases, the employee has no legal recourse.

However, just because an employee is at-will, does not mean that he/she may not have a valid claim for illegal discrimination and wrongful termination. Most successful wrongful termination lawsuits are brought by at-will employees.

What are my rights as a disabled worker?

It used to be the case that employers could discriminate against a potential or current employee due to a disability.  The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) passed in 1990 and various state laws enacted thereafter have outlawed this practice.  

If you are disabled you may qualify for protections under the ADA and similar state laws.  Certain types of long-term disabilities make one eligible for this protection.  Under the ADA a disability is defined as “a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity including a major bodily function.

There have been many studies that demonstrate that discrimination plaintiffs fare better in state Court than if they file their claim in federal court.

Age discrimination is on the rise and victims of age discrimination in employment often erroneously believe that they have to file a claim first administratively with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission before they can file a lawsuit. However, while this is true if a person  wants to file his/her age discrimination claim under federal laws, New Jersey victims of age discrimination in employment may file an age discrimination claim directly in New Jersey Superior Court under New Jersey State law without having to first file an administrate claim with an agency.

The federal law, The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 “ADEA” protects persons who are 40 years of age or older from employment discrimination based on age. Under this law , it is unlawful to discriminate against a person seeking employment or one who is employed because of his/her age with respect to any term, condition, or privilege of employment including hiring, training,  job assignments,  awarding promotions, monetary compensation and benefits, determining layoffs and terminations.

Terminating a women because she is pregnant and not married is a common practice by some employers, and the practice is not limited to while collar positions, nor is it limited to those in lower paying jobs. 

Two recently settled employment discrimination cases brought by very different types of workers who found themselves out of a job when their employers found out they were pregnant, demonstrate that this double whammy discrimination by employers occurs in many types of employment positions. 

Pregnant single women need to stand up to sex discrimination in the workplace. 

Leigh Castergine was in a prestigious, high level and high profile corporate executive position, a senior vice president for the New York Mets. This was quite different than the employment status of Jennifer Maudlin, employed as a cook at a child care facility in Ohio.

In employment, pregnant women historically suffer much bias and still suffer bias. Pregnancy is one of the latter categories of recognized protected classes under the law that affords protection to employees. Pregnant workers’ rights is something that is in some ways unsettled under federal law.

African American Jessie James Williams grew up in a small town in Arkansas, where water fountains in the town said "white only".  He was later fired in Las Vegas after working for the same employer, a waste collection company, for  31 years.

A person should not need botox treatments to keep their job. Yet persons may feel the intense pressure by their employers to look young or risk being terminated. Women and men in their 40's sometimes resort to plastic surgery but it may not make any difference to the employer who wants only youth in the workforce.

Despite numerous laws prohibiting age discrimination in employment, claims for unlawful termination based on age discrimination are still being filed throughout the country, and a greater number are being filed every year. Age discrimination is a particularly insidious form of discrimination because older workers may experience further discrimination when they apply for new comparable work. Persons terminated because of their age may suffer the most as a result. It is a double whammy, even when the results of a age discrimination termination lawsuit are successful for the Plaintiff.The problem is exacerbated due to age itself being the discriminatory factor.

Several recent housing discrimination cases, one which settled in March 2013 and another decided December 2012, demonstrate that discrimination in housing still exists despite implementation of fair housing laws.

In addition to federal laws which prohibit discrimination in housing, The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, N.J.S.A.

A bill to Support the Goals and Ideals of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day was introduced in the House of Representatives on Feb. 6, 2013.