Recently in Retaliation Category

September 18, 2009

New Jersey Employment Lawyer Argues Before New Jersey Supreme Court That Post-Discharge Conduct Cannot Be Considered A Continuing Violation of New Jersey's Law Against Discrimination.

On Monday, the New Jersey Supreme Court was asked to put a limit on the ability of a fired employee to sue for discrimination based on the employer's post-discharge conduct. The New Jersey Supreme Court justices heard an employer's appeal from an Appellate Division ruling last year that allowed such suit to go forward against a Moonachie company, even though the alleged post-discharge misconduct was ultimately resolved in the plaintiffs' favor.

A panel of the New Jersey Appellate Division allowed the suit to proceed under under Northern & Santa Fe Railroad Co. v. White, 548 U.S. 53 (2006), which held that the anti-retaliation provisions of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act extend beyond workplace-related or employment-related retaliatory acts and harm. At Monday's arguments, New Jersey employment lawyer for the employer, Dena Epstein, said there had to be a point where post-discharge conduct cannot be considered a continuing violation of under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination. "Otherwise, the potential claims are endless," she said.

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May 11, 2009

Town To Pay $4.9M in Retaliation Suits By Witnesses in Harassment Cases

On April 29, 2009, the Township of Teaneck agreed to pay a total of $4.9 million to a former policeman and a former fireman who claimed they were retaliated against for testifying in harassment suits brought by co-workers. The payment includes attorney fees for the New Jersey employment lawyer that represented the plaintiffs.

John Shouldis, an officer that left the police department in 2005 on disability, had claimed that he was denied promotions, threatened with dismissal and placed on midnight road patrol after his 2000 testimony in a sexual-harassment suit by officer Diane Mancini against Police Chief Donald Giannone and Capt. Warren White. Mancini won a $1.5 million verdict. In the retaliation case, Shouldis prevailed at trial and obtained a $4.1 million verdict. The New Jersey employment lawyer representing Shouldis sought $2.5 million in fees and costs. The council for the Township of Teaneck approved a $4.7 million settlement of all claims.

The second retaliation case settled for $200,000.00. Matthew Vogelman, who resigned as a fireman in 2007, claimed that he was denied medical leave and was subject to unfair discipline and increased scrutiny of his work after he testified in the harassment suit of former fireman Bill Brennan, a case that settled for $800,000 in 2005.

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