A lawsuit filed in a New Jersey Superior Court against a police department and several police officials seeks over $1 million in damages for alleged race discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation. The plaintiff in Cruz v. Old Bridge Police Department, et al alleges that the department ignored her repeated complaints…
A 2012 law amending the New Jersey Equal Pay Act requires employers with at least fifty employees to provide official notice to workers of their rights regarding gender equity under state and federal anti-discrimination and pay equity statutes. The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL) published final…
The Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey ruled that a state law prohibiting discrimination based on unemployment did not violate employers’ First Amendment rights of free speech. New Jersey Dept. of Labor and Workforce Development v. Crest Ultrasonics, No. A-0417-12T4, slip op. (N.J. App. Div., Jan. 7,…
A plaintiff could not maintain a sexual harassment complaint because the defendant was not her employer under state or federal law, according to a recent appellate court ruling. Plaso v. IJKG, LLC, No. 13-2565, slip op. (3rd Cir., Jan. 21, 2014). The plaintiff worked at the defendant’s business location, and…
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed a bill into law in late January 2014 amending the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) to include pregnancy as a protected class. The LAD has long protected employees from discrimination based on sex and disability, but it did not include pregnancy as a…
An eight-member Hudson County jury has awarded a former City of Hoboken employee $440,000 in back wages for discrimination. In the lawsuit, former Public Safety Director Angel Alicea, who is Hispanic, alleged that he resigned from his position in 2011 after he suffered race discrimination and retaliation at the Hoboken…
The United States Senate has passed a bill designed to protect gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender workers across the country from discrimination. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act would prohibit employers with at least 15 workers from engaging in discrimination against an employee based upon his or her sexual orientation or gender…
In September, Exxon Mobil Corporation announced that the company would begin offering benefits to the legally married same-sex spouses of employees in the United States. According to a spokesperson for the company, Alan Jeffers, the change was made in response to official guidance that was issued by the nation’s Department…
A federal jury has ruled in favor of a 25-year-old mentally disabled man who was discriminated against by his employer in Texas. According to a lawsuit filed against the Kroger chain of grocery stores, the mentally challenged former employee worked at one of the company’s stores without incident for four…
Increasingly, Americans are utilizing social media accounts like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and more both on and off the job. In recent years, a growing number of employers have reportedly asked workers and job applicants for access to their personal social media accounts as a condition of employment. In response…