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Employment Law

No immunity for failure to protect kids from sexual abuse

10/01/2007

Does your public-service agency work with minors? If so, you should be aware that the agency isn’t immune from liability if employees sexually abuse those minors. That’s yet another reason to carefully supervise any employee who has contact with vulnerable populations as part of their work …

Confusing work rules can become evidence in court

10/01/2007

When you fire or otherwise discipline an employee for breaking a work rule, can you show he knew about the rule? What about his co-workers and supervisors? Did they interpret the rule the same way? If not, you may have a hard time justifying disciplining one employee for breaking the rule …

NJLAD gives employees two years from discharge to sue for discrimination

10/01/2007

New Jersey law provides more time than federal law for employees to sue their employers for discrimination. The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD) allows employees to make discrimination claims up to two years following termination, longer than under the federal Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. That means employees who miss their EEOC filing deadline for federal claims still can sue under state law …

In New Jersey, even employee’s spouse can bring lawsuit—For indirect damages

10/01/2007

Need another reason to train supervisors and managers not to discriminate? Here’s one: In New Jersey, an employee’s spouse can join in a lawsuit alleging intentional infliction of emotional distress caused by an employer …

Class-Action suit could cost French firm over $300M

10/01/2007

Sanofi-aventis U.S., the American branch of a French pharmaceutical group, has been hit with a class-action sexual discrimination and harassment lawsuit. The four plaintiffs claim they were paid less and not promoted because of their gender. The women also say their bosses made unwelcome sexual comments and gestures, and management did not respond when they complained …

H-1B visa abuse costs Iselin tech company back wages, penalties

10/01/2007

The U.S. Labor Department has ordered Technologies500, of Iselin, to pay $537,189 in back wages to 36 computer programmers it hired under the H-1B visa program. The software company, also known as Cybersoftec.com, failed to pay the workers prevailing wages from January 2004 to November 2005. The department also levied fines of $162,750 …

FBI arrests mayors, other officials in bribe-Taking scandal

10/01/2007

When the FBI swooped in and arrested 11 public officials—including the mayors of Orange and Passaic—the allegations included massive corruption and bribery. Following an 18-month investigation, the FBI said it had extensive evidence that public officials at all levels were taking bribes in exchange for help securing public contracts. Many of the alleged bribes involved roofing and insurance contracts …

New Jersey cracks down on employers that misclassify employees

10/01/2007

Warning! Employers that intentionally misclassify employees as independent contractors face new penalties in New Jersey. Employers that intentionally misclassify workers unfairly stifle business competition because the practice lets them reduce labor costs between 15% and 20%, according to some estimates. That leaves employers that don’t cheat at a competitive disadvantage. Plus, employee misclassification strips workers of benefits and disability protection, and cheats the average taxpayer out of revenue …

Need to know: Avoid promising 100% secrecy

10/01/2007

HR often has vague policies for when they’ll share an employee’s confidential information. Fact: You can’t always promise an employee that her conversation with HR will be confidential.

‘Association’ with disabled no automatic assurance of leave

10/01/2007

The ADA makes it illegal to discriminate against employees because of their “association” with disabled people. But what about disciplining an employee for taking time off to care for the disabled person? According to a recent Pennsylvania case, that’s perfectly OK—as long as FMLA leave is not involved …