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Employment Law

Supreme Court toughens path for workers’ age bias suits

08/25/2009

In an important victory for employers, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled this summer that for employees to successfully bring lawsuits under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, they must now show that age discrimination was the cause of their termination or other adverse job action …

Rely on individual disability accommodations; you won’t be targeted for a class action

08/25/2009

Here’s a bit of good news for employers: While class-action lawsuits have been all the rage in recent years, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals has refused to expand the types of cases that can become class-action claims when the ADA is at the heart of the case.

Call lawyer when changes mean employees must sign releases

08/25/2009

Sometimes, it pays to take the time and spend the money to have legal experts carefully review your proposed actions. That’s especially true if your company is changing the way it does business in a fundamental way and wants employees to sign off on changes that dramatically affect how they are paid or whether they remain employees.

Document rationale and process for every firing decision

08/25/2009

Courts seldom second-guess firing decisions if employers can articulate solid reasons for the discharge—and take the time to document their decision-making processes. That’s because employees who want to challenge their employer’s termination decisions have to raise suspicions that the employer’s reason was not credible and that it wasn’t really a motivating factor in the decision.

N.J. employees can have NJLAD, NJFLA cases heard here

08/25/2009

If you’re an out-of-state company that makes New Jersey employees sign employment contracts requiring disputes to be brought in your home state, don’t expect that to stick.

Return FMLA leave-taker to equivalent job, no matter what

08/25/2009

Employees who take leave under the FMLA or the New Jersey Family Leave Act are entitled to return to the same or an equivalent position.

Settling the case was easy, until the IRS got involved

08/25/2009

A federal district court in New Jersey recently approved a settlement in an employment discrimination case where an employee received both front pay and back pay. Hashing out the settlement figure, however, was the easy part. Both sides were confused about how to treat the pay for tax purposes. Do IRS regulations consider both front pay and back pay to be wages?

Depressed gas worker wins $1.8 million in ADA case

08/25/2009

An Atlantic City jury has awarded Scott Jones $1.8 million in his suit against his former employer, South Jersey Gas, after the company dismissed him for poor work performance. Jones claimed his poor performance was due to his battle with depression and that the company failed to discuss accommodations of his condition.

Five rules for keeping the promotions process fair

08/25/2009

Supervisors who want to hand-select a particular employee for a job may be tempted to play fast and loose with the company promotion process. Watch out!

Marciano slapped with $370 million bill for defamation

08/25/2009

A Los Angeles Superior Court jury recently awarded $370 million in damages to five former employees who said they were defamed by Georges Marciano, co-founder of fashion company Guess, Inc., and an independent candidate in the 2010 California governor’s race.