Annabelle came to this office complaining of wrongful discharge from her employer, a national warehousing operation for which she was a property manager at a South Jersey location. Annabelle was good at her job, yet feisty to the point of aggressive. Things were in equipoise, with Annabelle doing her job yet being in an unclear state with management. It was as if Annabelle were waiting for the other shoe to drop. Then one day, Annabelle slipped and fell on a wet floor outside her office. There were no signs warning of the hazard. Annabelle, a large woman, fell hard on the marble floor, which produced an immediate searing pain on the entire left side of her body.

Annabelle reported out sick from work and took herself to the hospital, where she was treated for aches and bruises, but no fractures. Meanwhile, Annabelle’s position with the Company, already tenuous, was far worse than she knew. The Company had already been interviewing for her successor. When her manager learned that Annabelle had fallen down, he immediately issued an email to the staff saying “She’s obviously faking it” and promised an investigation. Sadly for the manager, he put Annabelle on the copy list, which she got at the hospital. Furious, Annabelle wrote back to the manager objecting to his untrue and unkind accusation. That is when she was fired.

This office filed a lawsuit under the NJ Law Against Discrimination, based on disability discrimination and retaliation for reporting her bodily injuries. This case had several complications. First, Annabelle was a provably difficult employee, which could affect a jury’s findings on liability and damages. Second, it was not totally clear to us whether Annabelle fell down by accident or on purpose. We hoped it was the first, but were prepared for a jury finding that it was the second. Third, there was an arbitration clause in Annabelle’s employment contract, mandating arbitration of any claims arising out of her employment, including these claims. Fourth, the employer was large and it could stay in the fight forever.

To deal with these problems, our law firm first successfully defended against the employer’s motion to compel arbitration. We argued the Company failed to give Annabelle informed consent about her rights to a jury trial, and the trial court agreed. Next, we agreed with defense counsel to mutually select a mediator to work with both sides on possible settlement terms. Both counsel and both parties spent an entire day negotiating a settlement agreement for an undisclosed sum of money. Settlement solved the rest of the case’s difficulties, and Annabelle was free to pursue other employment, unburdened by the financial and time demands of a lawsuit.