By: Kathleen Connelly, Esq. A recent holding by a New Jersey federal court in serves to remind employers that when employees fail to give timely notice of the need for medical leave they may be forfeiting the protections of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The Facts: On May…
By: Kathleen Connelly, Esq. In its rare unanimous, pro-employer ruling in the United States Supreme Court held that under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employers are not obligated to compensate employees for time spent undergoing employer-mandated security checkpoints after normal working hours. The ruling resolved a split between rulings…
Two years into a large federal design-build project through the Army Corps of Engineers here in New Jersey, the owner shut down the project and terminated the general contractor for cause, citing its failure to keep to the schedule among other issues. Our client, a mechanical subcontractor with an almost…
By: Kathleen Connelly, Esq. The Los Angeles Times and other news outlets have reported that following eight years of protracted litigation, a San Diego jury awarded nearly $186 million dollars to a former AutoZone manager who claimed she was demoted by AutoZone after she announced her pregnancy and was terminated…
By: James McGlew The perils of getting married without a prenuptial agreement were made clear this week with the news of the divorce of billionaire Harold Hamm. Mr. Hamm, Chief Executive Officer of Continental Resources, was ordered to pay nearly $1 billion to his now ex-wife in one of the…
By: Sergio Simoes, Esq. In July 2014, the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) shook the foundations of the franchisor-franchisee relationship when he determined that McDonald’s Corporation could be prosecuted as a “joint employer” with its franchisees in forty-three cases, charging unfair labor practices at its franchised…
The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (“LAD”) has long prohibited discrimination against individuals on the basis of their “marital status,” barring employers from considering an individual’s status as married or unmarried in making any employment decisions. In the recent case of a New Jersey appeals court recently examined the scope…
In January 2014, Governor Christie signed the Pregnant Worker’s Fairness Act (PWFA), amending the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) to expressly prohibit workplace discrimination on the basis of pregnancy. On the federal side, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued an Enforcement Guidance on Pregnancy Discrimination and…
The New Jersey Judiciary reported that approximately 40% of lawsuits filed with the courts involve claims by employees against their current or former employers. In this current litigious landscape, are there actions employers can take to protect against potential employment lawsuits? As a result of a recent decision from a…
Clarifying the burden placed upon health care workers alleging New Jersey Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA) violations, the New Jersey Supreme Court’s recent decision in 218 N.J. 8 (2014) illustrates the barriers facing employees who point to alleged violations of codes of ethics or employer policies to support whistleblowing claims.…