Englewood Cliffs Employment Attorney | Englewood Cliffs Business Litigation Attorney
In order to understand the complexities of federal law, New Jersey, and municipal law, as well as the interrelation of these laws with one another, your business needs advice from an Englewood Cliffs employment attorney or business litigation attorney. At the Law Offices of David S. Rich, LLC, we adroitly litigate, on our clients’ behalf, both multifaceted and single-claim commercial and financial lawsuits. We zealously advocate for our clients. Moreover, we adapt our legal strategies to our clients’ needs. Learn more about our practice — and how we can assist you or your company — below.
Employment Law and Wrongful Termination in New Jersey
New Jersey employment law encompasses a wide variety of disputes and issues arising from employer-worker relationships. Some of the federal, New Jersey, and local laws which companies commonly are charged with violating are as follows. At the Law Offices of David S. Rich, LLC, we have substantial experience litigating, on behalf of employers and individuals, these causes of action and many others.
Breach of Employment Contract
When your company contracts with an employee or an independent contractor for specific work, the employee or contractor must adhere to the terms of that agreement. If your business’s employee, or an independent contractor whom your company has retained, violated a contract, or if your company is accused of breach of employment contract, you need to speak to an Englewood Cliffs employment attorney.
The Law Offices of David S. Rich, LLC can help with the following types of employment contracts:
- Executive employment contracts
- Commission and bonus agreements
- Full-time as well as part-time employee contracts
- Independent contractor agreements
- Fixed-term and flexible-term contracts
- Staffing agency agreements
- At-will employment
- Implied contracts and agreements
No matter your employment contract issue, an Englewood Cliffs employment attorney can help you decide how to both effectively and fairly handle the situation.
Employment Discrimination
Federal law bars both public and private employers with 15 or more employees from discriminating in all terms and conditions of employment on the basis of gender, race, national origin, color and religion.
New Jersey law prohibits all public and private employers, because of the race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, civil union status, domestic partnership status, affectional or sexual orientation, genetic information, sex, gender identity or expression, disability or atypical hereditary cellular or blood trait of any individual, or because of the liability for service in the Armed Forces of the United States or the nationality of any individual, or because of the refusal to submit to a genetic test or make available the results of a genetic test to an employer, to refuse to hire or employ or to bar or to discharge or require to retire, unless justified by lawful considerations other than age, from employment such individual or to discriminate against such individual in compensation or in terms, conditions or privileges of employment.
If an employee has brought an employment discrimination claim against your company, contact a New Jersey employment attorney as soon as possible.
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)
Federal law prohibits discrimination against employees for the purpose of interfering with their attainment of rights under an employee benefit (pension or health and welfare) plan. Disputes involving self-funded employee benefit plans are governed by state contract laws.
If your company offers benefits to employees and a legal issue arises, contact the Law Offices of David S. Rich, LLC.
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
Federal law requires businesses with 50 or more employees to allow workers to take, and to return to their jobs after taking, up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave in a twelve-month period for the following:
- for the birth or adoption of a child,
- to care for a close family member who has a serious health condition,
- for an employee’s own serious health condition, or
- when a close family member is called to active military service.
If an employee has brought an FMLA claim against your company, contact an Englewood Cliffs employment attorney at the Law Offices of David S. Rich, LLC.
Restrictive Covenants in New Jersey
In order to make sure that the time, effort, and resources they invest in the instruction and cultivation of new employees will bear fruit, many employers in New Jersey make new employees sign employment agreements which include restrictive covenants.
In New Jersey, there are two common types of restrictive covenants:
- Non-disclosure agreements prohibit employees from disseminating trade secrets or confidential information.
- Non-solicitation agreements prohibit employees from seeking business from former customers for a specified period of time and within a defined geographical area.
In Manhattan, restrictive covenants are enforceable to the extent that they are reasonable. A covenant is reasonable only if it does the following:
- simply protects the legitimate interests of the employer,
- imposes no undue hardship on the employee, and
- is not injurious to the public.
If your business seeks to enforce a restrictive covenant against a former employee, contact an Englewood Cliffs employment attorney at the Law Offices of David S. Rich, LLC.
Retaliatory Discharge
An array of federal and New Jersey laws prohibit employers from retaliating against or punishing workers for exercising their legal rights or reporting violations to the government.
Wage and Hour Litigation
Federal law requires that most employees in the United States be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour for all hours worked and overtime pay at 1½ times the regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a workweek.
A worker may bring a collective action, on behalf of himself and others who are similarly situated, against an employer for failure to pay the federal minimum wage or overtime pay.
New Jersey law requires all employers to pay most employees at least the New Jersey minimum wage of $8.60 per hour for all hours worked and overtime pay at 1½ times the employee’s “regular hourly wage” for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a workweek.
Contact the Law Offices of David S. Rich, LLC to speak with a knowledgeable Englewood Cliffs employment lawyer about ensuring that your company complies with overtime pay and other wage and hour laws, or to retain a skilled Englewood Cliffs overtime attorney to defend your company in unpaid overtime lawsuits or other wage and hour litigation.
New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Defense
Most workers in New Jersey are entitled to 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.
If the employer or insurance carrier disputes a worker’s claim, no cash benefits are paid until a workers’ compensation law judge decides who is right.
Employers pay for workers’ compensation insurance.
If your business has a higher frequency of workers’ compensation claims or has more serious workplace accidents than other companies in your industry that are roughly the same size, your business’s workers’ compensation insurance premiums will increase. On the other hand, if your company has a lower frequency of workers’ compensation claims or has less severe workplace accidents than other businesses in your industry that are about the same size, your company’s workers’ compensation insurance premiums will decrease.
Workers’ compensation law is counter-intuitive. If an employee files a workers’ compensation claim, it’s in your business’s best interest to retain an experienced Englewood Cliffs workers’ compensation defense attorney to defend against the claim.
Wrongful Termination Claims
Most New Jersey employment law claims involve an adverse employment action, such as wrongful termination. Other adverse employment actions include the following:
- refusing to hire,
- demoting,
- failing to promote an individual,
- reducing the compensation or work hours of an individual,
- requiring an individual to retire from employment, or
- otherwise detrimentally changing the terms, conditions or privileges of an individual’s employment.
Should an employee win a wrongful termination action against your company in New Jersey, your company may be liable to the employee for back pay, front pay, compensatory damages, punitive damages, and, at the court’s discretion, reasonable attorney’s fees.
At the Law Offices of David S. Rich, LLC, we vigorously defend employers and represent other clients in wrongful termination lawsuits. If your business needs an Englewood Cliffs employment attorney to defend it in wrongful termination litigation, contact the Law Offices of David S. Rich, LLC.
Business Litigation
At the Law Offices of David S. Rich, LLC, we have substantial experience litigating these claims and many other on behalf of both companies and individuals.
- Breach of contract actions
- These include the following: actions for violation of contracts for the sale of goods, professional services contracts, supplier contracts, independent contractor agreements, and agreements with temporary employment agencies
- Business torts cases
- These include the following: actions for breach of fiduciary duty, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, conversion, fraud, interference with contract, interference with prospective advantage, and negligent misrepresentation
- Bankruptcy and adversary proceedings
- Civil racketeering actions (lawsuits brought under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”))
- Business dissolution proceedings as well as other corporate litigation
- Consumer fraud actions
- Equitable claims
- This include: lawsuits in quantum meruit or for unjust enrichment
- Product liability cases
- Franchisor-franchisee litigation
- Qui tam actions. (That is, actions in which the plaintiff sues for the state as well as for itself or himself.)
- Proceedings to enforce money judgments.
- These include the following: turnover proceedings, sheriff’s execution and sale, wage garnishments, post-judgment receiverships, fraudulent transfer claims, and cross-border judgement enforcement
- Commercial and securities arbitration and mediation
- This includes the following: arbitration and mediation before, among other arbitral bodies, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”)
To learn more about our commercial litigation practice, call Law Offices of David S. Rich, LLC to speak to an Englewood Cliffs business litigation attorney.
Resolving Business Disputes
If your company is involved in a business dispute, Law Offices of David S. Rich, LLC may be able, on your behalf, to resolve it quickly and efficiently. We are not only skilled litigators, but we also understand the value of keeping you out of court.
When we defend companies in business litigation, our ultimate goal is to make your problems go away. We do this through the following:
- pretrial or trial advocacy
- alternative dispute resolution
When possible, we undertake to resolve our clients’ disputes privately and confidentially. Where an early resolution is not feasible, the Law Offices of David S. Rich, LLC will skillfully litigate, until settlement or through trial, your company’s case.
At the Law Offices of David S. Rich, LLC, we craft customized litigation strategies to meet your business’s needs.
An Englewood Cliffs Employment Attorney and Englewood Cliffs Business Litigation Attorney Can Help You
Although many organizations have in-house counsel to help them through employment and business litigation issues, it is often more effective to seek general counsel when you need it. By working with the Law Offices of David S. Rich, LLC, you will have an Englewood Cliffs employment attorney and Englewood Cliffs business litigation attorney on your side. We are both client-focused and tenacious in our approach. Call us today at (201) 754-1807. We look forward to talk with you.
