The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) prohibits discrimination and bias-based harassment directed towards many protected classes, including gender, that occurs in employment, housing, and places of public accommodation. C.V. v. Waterford Township Board of Education considered a minor’s allegations of being sexually assaulted by a bus aide while being transported to and...
Category: Employment Discrimination
Can a Private Religious School Fire a Female Teacher for Being Pregnant Before Getting Married?
The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination protects employees from discrimination in the workplace which includes wrongful termination due to being within a protected class, such as sex, marital status, or pregnancy. In the case of Victoria Crisitello v.St.Theresa School, a Catholic elementary school arts teacher was a part of a protected...
Religious Discrimination in the Workplace
Along with federal law, New Jersey law protects against discrimination based on a person’s creed, or religious beliefs, in the employment setting. Because of this, it is unlawful for an employer to treat an employee differently based on their religion. This protection against discrimination applies if you belong to a particular religious...
Jury Awards $365 Million Dollar Retaliation Verdict Against FedEx
A federal jury in Texas has awarded $1.24 million in compensatory damages and $365 million in punitive damages to a former FedEx employee. Jennifer Harris, a black woman, had worked for FedEx for over a decade and had received multiple promotions and awards. In her most recent position, she led a sales...
EEOC Issues Updated Guidance on Hearing Disabilities and the ADA
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has recently released an updated resource document regarding the rights and responsibilities of employees and job applicants with hearing disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA is a federal law in the United States that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in...
Rutgers Women’s Basketball Players Accuse It of Discrimination
During the 2014-2015 season for the Rutgers-Newark University Women’s Basketball Team, five players claimed discrimination due to their race, gender, and sexual orientation from their interim head coach. The interim head coach made comments about one of the player’s hair which was “nappy” and referred to two players as “nappy-headed sisters” and also told one...
Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission v. Woods
The Law Against Discrimination (LAD) prohibits workplace discrimination due to protected classes that include sexual orientation. In a case in Washington State with a law similar to the LAD, the case of Seattle's Union Gospel Mission v. Woods considers the interplay of sexual orientation and religious observation. In that case, a job applicant...
Age Discrimination Protections
Age discrimination can refer to discriminating against a person because they are either older or younger than others. Either way, age discrimination can put employers in serious hot water. You see, there are protections in place at both the federal and state level to protect employees from experiencing age discrimination in...
Disparate Treatment Versus Disparate Impact Discrimination
Both Federal and New Jersey state law prohibits employment discrimination based on certain protected classes and characteristics. Discriminatory employment practices come in many shapes and sizes. The impacts of discriminatory employment practices also take different forms. For instance, there is disparate treatment and there is disparate impact in employment discrimination. Let’s...
What are Reasonable Accommodations?
Under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD), employers are required to provide reasonable accommodations to disabled employees. Should an employer fail to provide such reasonable accommodations, the employee may be able to bring a disability discrimination lawsuit. To do so, the employee must be able to demonstrate that they have a...