New Jersey Employment Lawyer Blog

New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram is drawing sharp questions in response to her nomination of a new state civil rights chief who is not a New Jersey employment lawyer, nor a member of the New Jersey State Bar. Senators Raymond Lesniak and Nicholas Scutari, Democrats, have requested that a state panel hold up the nomination of Chinh Le, Milgram's choice to head up the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights. Le is a practitioner-in-residence at Seton Hall University School of Law's Center for Social Justice. Le is also a former lawyer with the NAACP. The Senators questioned Le's depth of experience with gay rights issues and Milgram's judgment in nominating him.

Milgram's spokesman, David Wald said "This is a terrific, quality appointment," Wald said. "She's not looking to fill patronage spots here." Wald also stated that Le does not need to be a member of the New Jersey bar because the position does not require trial work. The seven-member Commission on Civil Rights is expected to vote on Le's nomination Wednesday.

The New Jersey Division on Civil Rights handles cases involving discrimination related to employment, housing and services.

I just read an interesting article in the New Jersey Law Journal in which a New Jersey Employment Lawyer cautions employers against giving glowing reviews on the popular website LinkedIn. I agree.

Once again, we see technological advances impacting civil litigation. Employers need to monitor the activities of their managers and employees in posting information on the web about the company and its employees. Why is this important? Well, suppose there is a lawsuit and the issue is whether the employee was terminated for poor performance or discrimination. By simply turning to the world-wide-web, a plaintiff's employment attorney in a discrimination case can show that an employee was a good performer by using glowing reviews found on websites such as LinkedIn.

The best advice from an employment lawyer is to implement a policy in the work place which requires approval from upper management before any information is posted on the web.

An employee's performance is often at issue in employment law cases. Employers should adopt policies and procedures to prevent information from being posted on the Internet, especially given the increasing popularity of websites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Myspace, etc. etc

Not too much is new in employment law, but New Jersey's Family Leave Insurance Law just went into effect. Employees in the State of New Jersey can now apply for six weeks of paid leave to care for sick relative or bond with a newborn or adopted child.

If you are a New Jersey employment lawyer representing employers it would probably be a good idea to suggest that your clients update their employment manuals to reflect the recent changes in the law.

Employees are still entitled to 12 weeks of time off under the New Jersey Family Leave Act, except that 6 of the weeks may be paid under the New Jersey Family Leave Insurance Law.