New Jersey Employment Litigation

Attorneys at our firm represent employers and employees in all aspects of employment litigation.

New Jersey’s employment laws are complex. They generally offer broad, but not unlimited, protection to workers. However, employers have many defenses to claims by employees that their employees’ rights were violated. In short, the law seeks to ensure that employees are judged by how they work, and that they have a safe, discrimination-free workplace to work in, and that they get paid for what they do. However, its intent is not to penalize employers who provide these compliant workplaces to their employees.

Representing Employers

We represent for profit and non-profit employers in defense of lawsuits brought by their current or former employees. We vigorously defend employers at all levels in the court system, and in mediation and arbitration. Perhaps more importantly, however, we help employers plan so that they are not sued, or that if they are they will win.

Representing Employees

We represent employees whose rights have been violated by their employers, whether by wrongfully firing them, harassing them, retaliating against them, or failing to properly pay for the work they have done. We represent employees in litigation, arbitration and mediation. We have decades of experience successfully representing employees in all phases of litigation, from negotiation to discovery, trial and appeal.

Practice Areas

• Discrimination. New Jersey employment law prohibits discrimination because of who an employee is. For instance, as under federal law, it is illegal to discriminate based on race, religion, gender or age. However, New Jersey employment law goes far beyond this to protect employees from discrimination for a wide range of reasons. The bottom line is that in a democracy, employees should be judged on how well they do (or not do) their job, not where they come from, what they look like, how they worship, or who they love.
• Harassment/Hostile Work Environment. Employers cannot harass employees for the same reasons they barred from discriminating against them. Thus, for example, racial and sexual harassment are illegal. In addition, employers cannot harass employees in retaliation for whistleblowing activity.
• Disability. New Jersey has strong policies protecting disabled workers. An employer cannot discriminate against an employee because of a disability, provided the employee can do the job with “reasonable accommodation.” Once the employer knows of an employee’s disability, the burden is on the employer to search for a reasonable accommodation which will allow the employer to perform his job.
• Whistleblowing Retaliation. New Jersey’s Conscientious Employee Protection Act (“CEPA”) prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who disclose or object to conduct which they reasonably believe is against the law or public policy. They also cannot retaliate for complaints about failure to pay wages. Employers cannot retaliate against employees who object to discrimination or harassment.
• Wage and Hour Disputes. Employers must pay their employees for the work they perform, including overtime for their nonexempt employees. Employers must also pay the government for their portion of the payroll tax, and must forward all amounts withheld from employees’ paychecks to the appropriate tax authorities and benefits plans. Employers cannot retaliate against employees who object to pay irregularities.
• Workers Compensation Retaliation. Employers cannot retaliate in any way against employees who file workers compensation claims.
• LGBTQ Discrimination. New Jersey is among the forefront in protecting gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans gender employees. Employers cannot discriminate because of who their employees love. The Law Against Discrimination was among the first laws to ban discrimination and harassment because of an employee’s “affectional or sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.”

Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution

Our attorneys have decades of experience successfully litigating employment lawsuits on behalf of employers and employees. We handle cases from inception through discovery, trial and appeal.

Our experience extends not only to lawsuits, but also to various forms of alternative dispute resolution, including arbitration and mediation. Arbitration is a means of resolving employment disputes outside of court. In arbitration, a neutral third party will hear the evidence and make a binding, unappealable decision. In mediation a neutral third party will try to assist the parties in reaching a voluntary settlement. We have significant experience in successfully handling all types of alternative dispute resolution.

Contact McLaughlin & Nardi’s Experienced New Jersey Employment Litigation Attorneys.

Our attorneys have decades of experience representing employers and employees in a wide range of employment lawsuits. Please e-mail us or call (973) 890-0004 to learn more about how we can help you in employment litigation.