Posts by Hanan Isaacs
“When Does My Firing Amount to Wrongful Discharge?”
Wrongful Discharge Defined
Wrongful termination, or wrongful discharge, involves a breach of one or more conditions of an employment contract, a handbook quasi-contract, or a federal or state employment law.
If a discharged employee proves wrongful termination in a court of law or arbitration proceeding, the two main remedies are reinstatement and monetary compensation.
Read MoreReady or Not, NJ Closed Adoptions Set to Open in 2017; and Open Adoptions Become the “New Norm”
In May of 2014, open adoption activists celebrated the Governor’s signing a bill into law that will allow them to get their original birth records, beginning in January of 2017.
Governor Christie’s sister was adopted in the 1970’s, and her husband also was adopted. The couple, the Governor said, could not get medical information under previous law. That will all change in 2017.
Mandatory Workplace Testing and the Making of an ADA Violation
On January 26, 2016, the NJ Appellate Division published IN THE MATTER OF PAUL WILLIAMS, a precedent-setting case that struck a blow for workers’ rights to be free from mandatory and unnecessary medical and psychiatric “fitness for duty” testing. For many years, employers have gotten away with using written and unwritten “fitness for duty” policies to discriminate against public and private sector workers, including wrongful termination. This case is important, instructive, and deserves public attention.
Read MoreNew Jersey Husbands: Eligible for ‘Manimony’?
Among the stereotypes harbored by some Americans is the notion that spousal support in divorces is the sole domain of undeserving ex-wives seeking a lifelong payday while refusing to work. In reality, spousal support in the Garden State is a two-way street, upon which both men and women are eligible to receive reasonable alimony for a reasonable time, based on statutorily defined criteria. While the numbers are far from even, men are increasingly the recipient of spousal support, which can come as a shock to the women who are ordered or agree to make such payments.
Read MoreInvestigation of NJ Workplace Civil Rights Complaints
Civil rights and other workplace relation laws require employers to investigate employee complaints, to meet the employer’s commitment under the laws. The employer must investigate problems of which they are aware or should be aware, concerning any type of discrimination, harassment, threat, or safety problem faced by an employee. They must take immediate and effective corrective action to solve the problem. To know what action to take, and find out whether an investigation is even necessary, the employer has to collect and examine essential facts. Employers who fail to look into such issues or problems are at risk of losing claims or lawsuits brought by employees adversely affected by those underlying problems.
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