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By signing into law new posting requirements aimed at combating pay and gender discrimination, Gov. Chris Christie advanced the fight for equal pay in the workforce.

Under the new law, companies that employ more than 50 people must post gender equality information in the workplace. This information must also be provided to employees at the time of hire, annually thereafter, and upon an employee’s request.The law is scheduled to take effect Nov. 21 and employers will have 30 days to comply once the New Jersey Department of Labor issues notice.

However, our NJ employment lawyers understand there is much work left to be done. Employees, particularly women, must remain vigilant in making sure they are fairly compensated, particularly in relation to men holding similar positions within the company.

Christie vetoed a measure that would have increased the reporting requirements for public contractors in an effort to better determine and enforce compliance. Those doing business within New Jersey would have been required to report gender, job title, occupational category, race and total compensation to the New Jersey Department of Labor.

“When Gov. Chris Christie had a chance to sign legislation I authored to prevent gender wage discrimination in public contracts, he vetoed the bill, calling it ‘senseless bureaucracy,'” wrote Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt (D-Camden/Burlington), in the Star-Ledger. Lampitt is also chairwoman of the Assembly’s Women and Children Committee.

Christie said it would have been burdensome and would have ultimately driven up the cost of public contracts paid for by tax dollars.

However, fact remain that women continue to fight for the equal pay owed them for equal work; this remains particularly true for jobs traditionally held by men. Lampitt notes a nationwide annual gender wage gap of $15.8 billion. In New Jersey, women earn just 79 cents for every dollar a man earns in the workforce.

Christie returned two New Jersey employment discrimination bills to the legislature for significant amendments.

The first would have eliminated the statute of limitations for bringing compensation discrimination claims. The Christie Administration contends that asserting into the bill limitations on the amount of backpay that can be recover would bring it into better agreement with the holdings of the New Jersey Supreme Court and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. The governor proposed a two-year limit.

The next measure would have prohibited retaliation against employees requesting pay information. The governor recommended the provisions be included in the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination rather than being made part of NJ’s whistleblower law.

Establishing whistleblower protections is a key component that must be part of any real solution. The secrecy around pay in the workforce is one one the primary reasons why this form of silent discrimination is allowed to continue. Until employees who have reason to believe they are being paid unfairly are given access to compensation information, such discrepancies in pay will remain commonplace.
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The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a discrimination lawsuit in New Jersey against State Police on behalf of the Latino Leadership Alliance. The group is seeking access and information regarding promotion policies, The Inquirer reported.

The chairman of the group, which describes itself as a coalition of community organizations, says he is a former police officer looking to ensure that there is no “disparate treatment of minorities,” according to the lawsuit.State police denied a state Open Public Records Request last month, saying the request was “improper and overbroad.” The ACLU asserts police are permitted to keep individual employment records private but not general employment policies.

The ACLU is accusing state police of a culture of secrecy, saying it’s the third public records request the agency has denied in recent months. For their part, state police are pointing to a recently adopted rule by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, which permits police to withhold “standard operating procedures” from public view. The new regulation was first adopted in December 2011; the Attorney General’s Office had previously said the rules would not be used to exempt general polices and procedures.

Yet it’s been used to deny this request by the Latino Leadership Alliance, which wanted to know if promotion policies favored one ethnic or racial group over another.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it illegal to discriminate in employment matters on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national orientation. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission statistics from 1997 to 2011 show charges filed under Title VII alleging race discrimination in the workplace have risen from 762 in 1997 to nearly 3,000 last year. Race-based charges have increased from 29,199 in 1997 to more than 35,000 last year.

New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination (LAD) prohibits employment discrimination in any job-related action — including hiring and promotion — on the basis of any of the law’s protected categories. Protected categories are: race, creed, color, national origin, nationality, ancestry, age, sex (including pregnancy and sexual harassment), marital status, domestic partnership or civil union status, affectional or sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, atypical hereditary cellular or blood trait, genetic information liability for military service, or mental or physical disability, including AIDS and HIV related illnesses.

Such discrimination is also forbidden in setting salary and benefits, making job assignments, in disciplinary actions and when reducing the workforce or otherwise conducting layoffs or terminations.

The law also protects employees from retaliation in the wake of making a good faith complaint about discrimination or harassment. Avenues for remedy include filing a complaint with the New Jersey Division of Civil Rights (which must be done with 180 days of the alleged act of discrimination) or pursuing a case through New Jersey Superior Court, typically with the assistance of an experienced New Jersey employment lawyer.
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They say knowledge is power. We, as experienced NJ employment attorneys, certainly agree.

To that end, eBossWatch, an organization that allows employees to monitor bosses, used Boss’ Day this year to release a study on workplace harassment and discrimination, and the common charges that are costing employers millions. During the last 12 months, such suits have resulted in more than $356 million in payouts and judgments, according to the Insurance Journal.The most common violation leading to sizable settlement or jury award: Sexual Harassment. Passaic County, New Jersey had the 12th largest payout: $3.7 million in an age discrimination judgment. A $25 million race discrimination lawsuit in Buffalo placed second on the list.

Mercy Hospital took the dubious honors of paying the highest award: $168 million in Sacramento for a sexual harassment lawsuit judgment. Companies in Chicago reported 3 of the 7 highest payouts. The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) prevents discrimination based on the protected statuses of race, creed, color, national origin, nationality, ancestry, age, sex (including pregnancy and sexual harassment), marital status, domestic partnership or civil union status, affectional or sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, atypical hereditary cellular or blood trait, genetic information liability for military service, or mental or physical disability, including AIDS and HIV related illnesses.

But the vast majority of employment lawsuits in New Jersey involve sexual harassment or discrimination based on age, sex or race. The same holds true when looking at statistics nationwide: The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported 1,841 cases in New Jersey last year.

-624 sex-based employment lawsuits in New Jersey
-457 race-based cases
-306 national origin
-89 religion
Of course, as the law states above, there are many other protections that may result in an unemployment lawsuit. Last year, New Jersey passed a law banning discrimination against the unemployed. However, sexual harassment remains the most commonly filed.

As we reported recently, New Jersey has paid millions to settle sexual harassment claims against state employers, including many supervisors who remain on the job. In fact, nearly $4 million has been paid to settle 27 sexual-harassment lawsuits in recent years.

New Jersey also just passed the Equal Pay Act, which is meant to address some of the gender inequality remaining in the workplace. Signed Sept. 21, the law requires employers to provide workers with a written copy of such rights. Simply posting those rights will no longer be considered sufficient.

What this means, for women in the workforce in particular, is that vigilance can ensure that you are being paid and treated fairly in the workforce. While we’ve come a long way in promoting equal pay for equal work, there is much work yet to be done. And those who are treated unfairly in the workforce based on gender should seek an experienced employment law attorney in Roseland or elsewhere to help protect their rights.
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As New Jersey employment attorneys, we were pleased to learn that late last month, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signed a gender pay parity bill into law, which aims to address gender inequality in pay, benefits and other conditions of employment.

Gender discrimination in New Jersey is illegal under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The new law requires employers of more than 50 to provide employees written notice of their workplace rights.Written notice must be provided within 30 days of the issuance of the forms by the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (expected after the law’s effective date November 21, 2012); upon hiring; annually each year; and upon an employee’s first request. Employees must also sign acknowledgement of receipt within 30 days.

The number of gender discrimination complaints filed has remained fairly constant over the last 15 years, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. A total of 24,728 federal complaints were filed in 1997, compared to 28,534 complaints filed last year. Still, gender complaints are second only to race discrimination complaints in the numbers filed annually. The EEOC reports 457 gender complaints were filed with the State of New Jersey last year.

While women’s rights in the workplace have come a long way in a generation, there is still much work left to be done. With the hiring of former Google executive Marissa Mayer as the CEO of Yahoo! this summer, women now hold 20 CEO positions among Fortune 500 companies.

IBM, Pepsi-Co, Campbell Soup, Kraft Food and Xerox are other major U.S. corporations headed by women, according to Forbes Magazine.

In 1947, women accounted for just over 31 percent of the workforce. By 1979, it was just over half and has stayed there ever since. However, the pay gap has not reached parity nearly as quickly. In fact, an article in The Washington Post estimates it will take another half century to close at its current pace.

Today, white men make $2.09 an hour more than white women, on average. Black men make about $1 more an hour than their female counterparts. In New Jersey, the National Partnership for Women & Families found women make 11 to 44 percent less than men – or an average of about $12,000 a year less.

“Women and their families are losing critical income for food, gas, rent, health insurance and more due to a punishing gender-based wage gap that has plagued this country for decades,” said Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership.

As Businessweek reports, gender pay inequality is particularly troubling because it’s a silent offense. Women know when they are being subjected to harassment or abuse, and it’s often possible to determine whether discrimination is occurring in hiring and promotions.

But the confidential nature of most company’s compensation policies often forbids employees from talking about pay. As a result, pay inequality more frequently goes unchecked. Professions in which such inequality is most likely to occur include financial advisers, physicians, lawyers and police officers.
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Sexual harassment lawsuits, filed by NJ sexual harassment lawyers on behalf of state workers, against state agencies is costing New Jersey millions, yet many of the offenders remain on the job or have retired with lucrative pensions, according to an investigation by the Asbury Park Press.

A cadet at the state’s corrections officer academy said she was subjected to offensive obscenities, inappropriate touching my male instructors, sex and gender discrimination and on-the-job retaliation in the wake of complaints to superiors. Fed up, she sued in 2005 and agreed to settle the case last year for $415,000. She now works as a senior corrections officer at New Jersey State Prison in Trenton.Despite millions in settlements, most agencies refuse to discuss the issue — citing either ongoing litigation or private personnel issues not subject to disclosure. However, the newspaper’s investigation found many state employees or supervisors who have been named in the lawsuits either continue to work for the state or have retired with generous pensions. Many of the employee complaints allege the harassment has been occurring for years, according to the Park Press.

Whether in the private or public sector, failure to adequately deal with employees who violate sexual harassment policy ensures that the company remains exposed to such lawsuits and that employees remain exposed to unlawful conduct in the workplace.

The New Jersey Civil Service Commission reports nearly 1,000 state employees have filed sexual harassment lawsuits in the last 5 years. In recent years, 27 lawsuits have been settled for a total of $3.9 million. The average settlement is $145,000. In fact, the number of sexual harassment complaints in New Jersey has increased by 10 percent since 2006, even as the number of complaints nationwide has dropped by 5.5 percent.

The State of New Jersey has had a sexual harassment policy on the books since 1993 and all of the state’s 74,000 employees are required to take training courses aimed at preventing sexual harassment in the workplace.

Sexual harassment which creates a hostile work environment is when an employee endures sexually abusive or offensive behavior and does not have to include physical contact. Quid pro quo sexual harassment is when an employer demands sexual favors as a condition of continued employment or advancement.

A total of 78 complaints involving state workers have been filed this year through Sept. 12.

Ironically, most of the settlements involved state agencies entrusted with enforcing the law. The State Department of Law and Public Safety was responsible for more than $1 million in settlements — the highest dollar amount of any agency. Other agencies included state courts, the Juvenile Intensive Supervision Program and the Department of Corrections.

A spokesman for the state Attorney General said state agencies thoroughly investigate complaints and that disciplinary action can include reprimand, demotion, suspension or termination.
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Many of us have learned to do more with less as we climb out of the worst economic recession since the Great Depression. However, when such sacrifice is the result of wage and hour violations, an employee is protected under state and federal law.

Typically, however, it’s up to the employee to assert their legal rights to overtime. Joining co-workers in seeking advice from a NJ overtime lawyer can help you recover wages owed to you and your colleagues at work.A new survey conducted by Harris Interactive found half of U.S. workers believe that their employer violates overtime laws. Most employees feel the weak economy has also forced them to do more work for less pay. In Great Britain, France, Australia, China, Mexico, India and Brazil, about two-thirds of hourly workers report that their employer violates overtime laws at least some of the time.

Most hourly workers who were surveyed indicated an eagerness to work extra hours, presumably for additional pay. In the U.S., some 43 percent of workers said they wish more hours were available.

In the U.S., there has been an increase of nearly 50 percent in the number of employee claims alleging wage-and-hour violations – from about 5,000 complaints annually a decade ago to the current rate of more than 7,000 claims a year alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The United States Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division is responsible for overseeing compliance with the FLSA. Under federal law, the minimum wage is $7.25. The New Jersey Assembly is debating whether to increase the state minimum wage to $8.50. Nonexempt hourly employees must be paid at least 1.5 times their regular wage for hours worked over 40 hours in a week.

Exempt Employees may include:
-Professional employees, including school teachers.
-Seasonal employees.
-Farm workers.
-Certain commission and sales positions.
-Certain salaried supervisory positions.

Tipped employees must be paid at least $2.13 an hour. However, tips must amount to at least the minimum wage or the employer must make up the difference. There can also be legal issues when employees are forced to share tips — particularly with supervisors or other non-tipped employees.

In other cases, an employee may be misclassified as a salaried employee, or wrongfully paid a salary for more than 40 hours worked. Another issue that has become commonplace is misclassifying employees as independent contractors. These violations can be particularly egregious and may also leave an employee uncovered by workers’ compensation insurance in the event of an on-the-job accident.

Unpaid or withheld wages may also constitute a wage-and-hour violation under the New Jersey State Wage Payment Law (N.J.S.A. 34:11-4.1).

Throughout the downturn, employers laid off workers and made existing staff pick up the slack. And many have been slow to increase hiring through what has been a sluggish recovery. Too often, employees do not report violations for fear of losing their job. While state and federal laws prohibit retaliation, it remains a valid concern.

But when such circumstances are permitted to become commonplace, basic employee rights become a casualty. When coworkers seek the advice of an experienced law firm, their rights are better protected.
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A former Ph.D student and staff associate at Columbia University filed a lawsuit claiming the school mishandled his complaint of sexual harassment by the student’s lab supervisor, and then wrongfully terminated the victim.

Unfortunately, firing a victim is not an uncommon result when an employee alleges a violation of workplace rights. New York City employment attorneys also know that sexual harassment is common in the university environment and may involve professors, staff or students.The plaintiff arrived from Chile last March to pursue his Ph.D. while working at the University. But, over the course of about three months, he contends he was sexually harassed by his supervisor, ignored by a university human resources officer, and ultimately fired from his dream job.

Typically, a supervisor-employee relationship is exploited in cases of sexual harassment. The university setting, as well as internship positions, can be ripe for such abuse because students want to please superiors and to excel. In this case the 25-year-old victim, who worked at the University while pursuing his Ph.D., contends in his lawsuit that he suffered retaliation after he complained of being sexually harassed by his supervisor, a professor of medicine, nephrology and hypertension at the Columbia University Medical Center.

According to the lawsuit, the victim had been at the university just a few days when he received a cell phone solicitation about dating older gay or bisexual men. The complaint charges that the supervisor sent the plaintiff messages via a social network, with the supervisor’s picture attached, asking the plaintiff “if he would like to date an older man.” After rejecting his supervisor’s online sexual advance, the lawsuit maintains, the plaintiff’s supervisor allegedly “came out of his office, approached Plaintiff….and screamed at him, ‘You are out!'”

The victim reported the harassment to another supervisor, who allegedly promised to talk with Columbia’s Chair of the Department of Medicine, and directed the plaintiff to human resources, according to the lawsuit. The victim contends that the university’s human resources representative offered to help file a formal complaint with Columbia’s Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action, which is charged with investigating allegations of harassment or discrimination against university faculty and staff. He said the supervisor later apologized for the ongoing behavior, gave him an expensive computer, and allegedly told him to “pretend that nothing happened.”

In June, the lawsuit maintains, the Ph.D student was subsequently fired without notice or explanation, according to the allegations contained in the lawsuit. The university has declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.

These cases are often a victim’s word against a superior’s. Any evidence or documentation of such behavior can go a long way toward proving a victim’s claim. In this case, the Columbia Spectator (the university’s student newspaper) reports that it reviewed detailed evidence gathered by the victim, including e-mails and text messages.

A law firm experienced in workplace harassment litigation will also review an employer or university’s track record of past allegations and its response to employment discrimination and workplace harassment complaints.

While still relatively rare, an increasing number of cases involving male-on-male sexual harassment are being reported. In fact, more than 16 percent of sexual harassment cases were filed by men in 2011, compared to 11.6 percent in 1997, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Both state and federal employment laws prohibit an employer from retaliating against an employee for making a complaint. In 2007, the New Jersey Supreme Court decided in Carmona v. Resorts International Hotel, Inc. that in order to be protected under the law a victim must have an underlying complaint of discrimination that is reasonable and made in good faith.

In this case, the victim will apparently be forced to return to Chile because of a lack of funds because Columbia terminated his employment after he complainted about being sexually harassed. In general, it is a good idea for those who believe they are being harassed or discriminated against at work to seek the advice of an experienced employment law firm in New York or New Jersey at the earliest stages of such cases. Very frequently the culture in institutions where this behavior is allowed to thrive is such that significant legal protection — either before or after lodging a complaint — is not likely without the help of an experienced law firm.
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The New Jersey Division on Civil Rights (“DCR”) recently announced that a Bergen County school district has agreed to pay $90,000 to settle claims that it failed to reasonably accommodate a former employee’s disability and then retaliated against her for her complaint of disability discrimination.

Maria Osnowitz was a teacher’s aide for the West New York Board of Education. She suffers from knee injuries that impair her mobility. For the most part, she utilizes a motorized wheelchair or scooter to get around. When walking is necessary, she utilizes two canes.

In her first DCR Complaint, Ms. Osnowitz alleged that West New York Board of Education failed to reasonably accommodate her disability. Specifically, she alleged that, because of her disability, she requested to park her car in a covered parking area close to the entrance of the school where she worked, but that the school principal refused to allow her to do so. In addition, she alleged that the school repeatedly held meetings — and required her attendance — at locations that were not wheelchair-accessible. She further alleged that she requested that the meeting locations be changed, but that the school refused to do so.
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Last month, the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division, reaffirmed that individual corporate officers are personally liable to employees for unpaid wages. So, if you are owed wages, and your employer files for bankruptcy (or otherwise fails to pay your salary for whatever reason), consider hiring an experienced NJ employment lawyer to sue the individuals who manage the company — and who may drive to and from work in fancy cars and wear fancy suits and watches — while your hard-earned wages remain unpaid. Yes, the “suits” could very well be made to break out their personal checkbooks to pay your wages or to settle wage and hour claims.

The recent New Jersey case, Teleki v. Talk Marketing Enterprises, Inc., involved a claim made by an employee, Margot Teleki, who, under the terms of an Employment Contract, was to be paid a salary of $4,166.67 twice per month, for a period of ten years. When the company encountered money problems, it unilaterally reduced Ms. Teleki’s salary, and later stopped paying her entirely (well before the ten years was up). Ultimately, the company filed for bankruptcy protection.
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As New York employment lawyers, we know first-hand that employment discrimination comes in many shapes and sizes. But, is the hourglass one of them?

That question has recently been raised by Lauren Odes, a woman who filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charging gender discrimination and religious discrimination against her employer, Native Intimates, in New York. Native Intimates is a lingerie wholesaler that allegedly fired Lauren Odes because she was “just too hot for this office.”
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