Wrongful Termination

The New York Whistleblower Law, N.Y. Labor Law §§ 740 – 741, prohibits all employers from discharging, suspending, demoting, or otherwise retaliating against an employee because the employee, among other independent actions, discloses to a supervisor or to a public body an unlawful activity, policy or practice of the employer that creates and presents a substantial and specific danger to the…Read More

The New Jersey Conscientious Employee Protection Act, N.J.S.A. §§ 34:19-1 – 34:19-8 ("NJ CEPA"), prohibits all public and private employers from retaliating against employees who disclose, object to, or refuse to participate in certain actions that the employees reasonably believe are either illegal or in violation of public policy. More particularly, the New Jersey Conscientious Employee Protection Act bars all…Read More

Most workers in New Jersey are eligible for temporary or permanent cash benefits, known as workers' compensation benefits, when they are injured by an accident arising out of and in the course of their employment.  See N.J. Workers' Comp. Law § 34:15-1. I have observed a prevalent belief, among both employers and workers, that a business in New Jersey may…Read More

On July 15, 2015, in Lippman v. Ethicon, Inc., Nos. A-65/66-13, 073324 (N.J. July 15, 2015), the New Jersey Supreme Court held that the protections of the New Jersey Conscientious Employee Protection Act, N.J.S.A. §§ 34:19-1 - 34:19-8 ("NJ CEPA" or "the Act") "extend to the performance of regular job duties by watchdog employees."  Lippman, Nos. A-65/66-13, 073324, slip op.…Read More

In September 2014, the respective Mayors of four municipalities in New Jersey -- the Cities of East Orange, Passaic, and Paterson and the Township of Irvington -- signed into law paid sick leave ordinances for private employees (collectively, the "Sick Leave Ordinances" or the "Ordinances"). Effective January 2015, the East Orange, Irvington, Passaic, and Paterson Sick Leave Ordinances require employers…Read More

Effective June 14, 2014, certain unpaid interns in Manhattan gained the right to sue their employers for discrimination in employment or workplace harassment. However, the effect of this new statute is quite limited, because most unpaid trainees in Manhattan fall outside the new statute’s definition of an ” ‘intern.’ ” As a result, despite the new statute, most unpaid interns in the…Read More

Can a non-governmental employer in NY Lawfully make a video recording of its employees in the workplace without the employees’ knowledge? The short answer is that a private employer in NY Lawfully may engage in secret, video-only surveillance of its employees in certain areas of the workplace, unless the employer does so for impermissible reasons. Employers in Manhattan, NY are prohibited from causing a…Read More

On February 26, 2014, New York City Council, by a vote of 46 to 5, passed a bill, Int. No. 1-A-2014 (the “Bill”), amending the New York Earned Sick Time Act to provide that effective April 1, 2014, among other revisions, employers in Manhattan which employ five to 14 employees must give each employee one hour of paid sick time for every 30…Read More

As this author has previously explained, most workers in New York State are eligible for temporary cash benefits, known as NYS short term disability benefits (“STD benefits”), when they are disabled by injury or sickness that is not work-related. See N.Y. Workers’ Comp. Law § 201(9)(A)(defining ” ‘Disability’ “). In particular, most employees in Manhattan may receive up to 26 weeks (during…Read More

On October 21, 2013, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop signed into law the Jersey City Earned Sick Time Ordinance, Ordinance 13.097 (the "Jersey City Earned Sick Time Ordinance," the "Earned Sick Time Ordinance," the "Ordinance," or the "JCESTO").  Effective January 24, 2014, the Earned Sick Time Ordinance requires employers in Jersey City, New Jersey which employ 10 or more employees to give each employee…Read More