Eric Thompson claimed he was fired because his fiancé filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The United States Supreme Court unanimously held that if Thompson’s allegations proved true, then firing him was illegal retaliation under federal laws banning discrimination in the workplace.  See Thompson v. North American Stainless (January...

Your employer must provide you with 21 (or 45) days to accept the agreement and 7 days to revoke the agreement after signing in order for there to be a valid waiver of your potential claim for age discrimination. This is required pursuant to the Older Workers Benefits Protection Act and is designed to...

Unfortunately, sometimes a union does not aggressively represent one of its members.  Your union representative tells you “not to make waves” and to ignore your employer’s violations of your union contract or the law.  What to do?  The first thing is to figure out if you can go beyond your union to a lawyer. ...

No.  New Jersey does not have a law requiring employers to provide employees with severance pay upon the termination of their employment.  Severance is only required if it is promised (either in writing or verbally) by the employer.  An employer may offer an employee severance pay as part of a termination package.  However, absent...

New Jersey's non-compete laws generally are enforced by Courts if they are “reasonable” in scope.  A non-compete agreement is generally considered reasonable if it (1) protects the legitimate interests of the employer; (2) does not impose an undue hardship on the employee; and (3) is not injurious to the public.  In the event that...

On December 13, 2010, New York passed the Wage Theft Prevention Act (“WTPA”).  The WTPA becomes effective on April 12, 2011 and requires amends New York's labor law as follows: (1) employers must provide notices to all employees annually explaining their pay date, rate of pay, and overtime rate; (2) employers must provide 7...

Congress is considering new legislation called the Employee Misclassification Prevention Act (EMPA).  The EMPA would provide independent contractors who should have been classified as employees with benefits that they are not currently entitled to as independent contractors. This legislation would modify the Fair Labor Standards Act and allow penalties for against employers for improperly...

New Jersey law requires that a victim of workplace discrimination must file a lawsuit within two years of the discrimination.  There is an exception to that law called the “discovery rule.” On December 10, 2010, the Supreme Court of New Jersey concluded that the discovery rule applied to a State employee’s race discrimination claim even...

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi) recently ruled that employees who test positive for prescription drugs, and are suspended/terminated as a result of legally taking the prescription drugs, are not protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  The various Federal Courts of Appeals disagree on the interpretation of the...

Beginning on December 2, New Jersey residents who file for unemployment will get only 26 weeks of benefits. The benefits reduction is caused by the expiration of the federal government's emergency extension of benefits. The federal emergency extension expires tonight because Congress did not approve a $12.5 billion extension of federal jobless benefits, which...