NJ Appeals Court Voids Jury Trial Waiver and $2MM Counsel Fees/Costs Award in Whistleblower Suit

New Jersey public policy is undergoing a period of significant retrenchment on employer-employee contract interpretation, producing seismic effects in day-to-day negotiation, litigation, and arbitration of employment law cases in our State. You may recall our blog post dated October 11, 2016, regarding the New Jersey appellate courts’ insistence that, for employers to enforce contract provisions, asserted…

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N.J. Supreme Court to Whistleblowing State Trooper: Keep $500K of Jury’s Damages Award

The NJ Supreme Court has reinstated a partial jury verdict awarding a State Police sergeant half a million dollars over claims the statewide police force discriminated against him. The Justices’ action ends over 10 years of litigation for veteran trooper Brian Royster, who filed claims of civil rights violations and whistleblower retaliation against the NJ State…

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NJ Courts Balance Parental Rights Against Children’s Needs for Defense Against Parental Wrongs

In the past 40 years and increasingly, both federal and state court decisions have recognized fundamental constitutional rights of parents to see, spend time with, and raise their children, without undue governmental interference. There are limits to that doctrine. New Jersey, as do many states, will assert a right of parens patriae — the government as legal…

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NJ Appeals Court Says Muslim Corrections Officer Who Refused to Remove Her Religious Head Scarf Was Properly Dismissed

In a case of first impression in our state, a New Jersey appeals court has upheld a Muslim correctional officer’s dismissal for refusal to remove her religious head scarf at work. Tisby v. Camden County Correctional Facility, N.J. Appellate Division, 2016. The Appellate Division upheld the trial court’s entry of summary judgment, dismissing the county employee’s law…

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