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Employment Law

What are the basics of retaliation liability?

04/25/2011
Q. We keep hearing that retaliation can be a bigger lawsuit worry for employers than even discrimination or harassment. What kinds of employment laws impose retaliation liability?

N.J. Supreme Court decides: Can employees take confidential docs?

04/25/2011
Can an employee who wants to prove discrimination take, copy and dis­close company documents? How does that square with the company’s right to protect what it deems to be confidential information? The New Jersey Supreme Court ­recently offered some guidance on this issue in Quinlan v. Curtiss-Wright.

EEOC ticked after tech firm reneges on agreement

04/25/2011
The EEOC is taking aim with both barrels at a Newark IT firm, HD Dimension Corp., after the company allegedly reneged on a conciliation agreement the commission brokered following accusations of discrimination.

NJLAD transgender protections could get first court test

04/25/2011
A man who underwent gender-reassignment treatment is suing his Camden employer in a case that could mark the first test of New Jersey Law Against Discrimination protections for transgender people.

No unemployment after quitting to take job that never happened

04/25/2011
Employees who lose their jobs through no fault of their own are generally en­­titled to unemployment compensation benefits. But if an employee simply re­­­­­­­signs from one job to take a better one that never materializes, he can’t collect.

Return-to-work denial might be retaliation

04/25/2011
Some employers seem to think they can force troublesome employees to give up and quit by making work life miserable. The more likely result: a lawsuit.

Keep lawsuit clock on your side: Make sure employees know exact date of employment action

04/25/2011

Employees only have a short period of time to file their initial dis­crimi­na­tion claims. The clock starts ticking as soon as the employee knows or should have known about some material, potentially adverse job change. That’s why you need to be absolutely clear to employees when you make a job change—and note it in your files.

Beware retaliation long after bias complaint

04/25/2011

Think retaliation won’t be a problem because plenty of time has passed since an employee complained about alleged discrimination? Think again! Always be on the lookout for possible retaliation, no matter how long it has been since the initial complaint.

Training not working? Time to try demotion

04/25/2011
Not every employee is suited to promotion—something that may not become clear until far into the process. That’s why smart employers set reasonable expectations for training success and remain prepared to demote those who don’t make the cut.

Medical exams: When can you require them?

04/25/2011

You may have heard that employers aren’t permitted to force employees to submit to medical exams because they could reveal a disability. And courts often see impromptu medical exams as thinly veiled attempts to push employees out the door. While pre-employment, pre-job-offer medical exams are barred, there are times when medical exams for existing employees are fine.