Articles Posted in New Jersey

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An HR employee claimed that her age motivated her employer’s decision not to select her for a Human Resources Talent Consultant (HRTC) position after the company restructured the HR Department.

Why? Because decision-makers allegedly said on a conference call that they were looking for “fresh new blood” to fill the HRTC role.

Is that code for age discrimination?

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Some of the tenets of good HR compliance include documenting and communicating performance issues and taking additional formal steps to alleviate them. If those steps fail, the employer can proceed with termination, being sure to document the reasons supporting the final decision. Continue reading

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Back in March 2019, the State of New Jersey passed a law that makes any non-disclosure provisions in an employment contract or settlement agreement that have the purpose or effect of concealing the details relating to a claim of discrimination, retaliation, or harassment unenforceable against a current or former employee who is a party to the contract or settlement. I wrote about it here. Continue reading

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This case involves a plaintiff who worked as a part-time bartender who worked for a bar in New Jersey. She claimed that her supervisor created a hostile work environment by calling the plaintiff names “used to describe a person with an oversized posterior.” (The court deemed it unnecessary to identify the supervisor’s “alternate names” for the plaintiff.) Continue reading

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For one of the most employee-friendly states in the country, the current state of play in New Jersey for restrictive covenant agreements like non-competes and non-solicits is employer-friendly. Although your mileage may vary by judge, most will enforce reasonable contracts of up to two years with a geographical footprint that coincides with where the company does business. Continued employment is sufficient consideration, and if the agreement is too broad, the judge can reform it.

Those days may be ending soon. Continue reading

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Did you happen to catch my friend Jon Hyman’s blog post about employers who surreptitiously install tracking software on electronic devices to monitor their employees?

Your mileage may vary as to whether it’s good for business. In some states, it may be downright illegal.
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If, like me, you’ve always wondered whether the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) preempts a 2019 amendment to New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination (LAD) that prohibits the waiver of procedural and substantive rights under the LAD, try to remain calm. I’m about to blow the lid off this jawn.

(The rest of you can bug out and play Wordle.) Continue reading

“Doing What’s Right – Not Just What’s Legal”
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