Is Your Employee’s Waiver of a Statutory or Constitutional Right Enforceable?
In the Winter of 2016, the New Jersey Appellate Division made a significant change to employment law in New Jersey when the Court held that without a clear and unambiguous waiver of the right to sue, an employee cannot be forced to arbitrate employment claims (meaning that generally, arbitration agreements found in employee handbooks cannot […]
Third Circuit Clarifies Standard for Establishing Age Discrimination Claims
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”) is a federal law that prohibits employment discrimination against employees over the age of 40. One of the lingering questions under the law has been what happens when an employer adopts an employment policy that, while seemingly benefiting a group of employees over 40 years old, also simultaneously […]
Legal Alert: Jury Reminds Employers that Age Discrimination is No Joking Matter
On January 26, 2017, after analyzing four days of trial testimony, a jury in the Federal District Court of New Jersey issued a verdict that Lockheed Martin (“Lockheed”) must pay $51.5 million to a Plaintiff in an age discrimination lawsuit. The lawsuit, alleging violations of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”) and the New […]
Is a Job Duty Reassignment Considered an Adverse Employment Action?
Employers occasionally find themselves in a situation where they must reassign an employee to a different shift or a different duty assignment due to staffing needs or some other legitimate business reason. Although the reassignment is usually lawful when it can be supported by legitimate business reasons, a disgruntled employee may claim that the reassignment […]
New Federal Overtime Rule On Hold: “What Do We Do Now?”
New employee overtime rules slated to take effect on December 1, 2016, have been placed on a nationwide temporary “hold” pending a final Court hearing on the matter. The new Fair Labor Standards Act regulation, which would have doubled the minimum salary threshold for those not eligible for overtime pay, has been delayed by a […]
Termination for Failure to Receive a Flu Shot – Is this Religious Discrimination?
Now that Thanksgiving is over, flu season is in full swing. Although it would not occur to most employers that requiring employees to receive a flu shot would cause legal problems, recent cases from Pennsylvania show that such a requirement may be problematic. In September 2016, the U.S. Equal Employment opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) filed suit […]
Beware of Carelessly Drafted Employee Arbitration Agreements
Many employers today utilize employee arbitration agreements as a means of eliminating potential court litigation. In place of pursuing legal claims in a judicial forum, the arbitration agreement substitutes a private resolution mechanism, such as utilization of an arbitrator, to resolve employee legal grievances. Arbitration agreements are an effective way of keeping employee disputes outside […]
Workplace Disputes Do Not Necessarily Lead to a Conscientious Employee Protection Act Claim
Employers will be relieved to hear that the New Jersey Appellate Division recently handed down a pro-employer decision regarding the Conscientious Employee Protection Act (“CEPA”). The case of Ortiz v. Penske Truck Leasing, No. A-3742-14T3 (App. Div. September 13, 2016) re-emphasizes the legal principle that in order for an employee to prevail regarding a CEPA […]
OSHA’s New Regulations and Its Restrictions on Post Accident Drug Testing
Does your organization require employees to undergo drug and alcohol testing automatically in every instance where there has been a workplace accident? If so, new regulations from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) will greatly impact upon the continuation of such practices in your workplace. In May, 2016, OSHA published regulations that ostensibly are […]
Do Co-Workers’ Discourteous Attitudes Establish FMLA Retaliation?
The Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) is one of the laws about which employment lawyers get the most questions. The FMLA can be complicated to apply to factual situations and employers are justifiably concerned that if they take disciplinary action against an employee after he/she returns from FMLA leave, even if the discipline is based […]
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