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New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination has rightly been called one of the strongest employee protection laws in the nation.  This is true both because of the broad range of inherent characteristics  which it protects from discrimination, and the strong legal protections and remedies it provides.  In short, the Law Against Discrimination prohibits employers from discriminating against employees because of a wide range of inherent qualities which make them who they are. It likewise prohibits harassment because any of these characteristics as well.  These protected characteristics include race, creed, color, national origin, nationality, ancestry, sex (including pregnancy and sexual harassment), marital status, domestic partnership or civil union status, affectional or sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, atypical hereditary cellular or blood trait, genetic information, liability for military service, and mental or physical disability, including AIDS and HIV related illnesses.  It also prohibits discrimination or harassment because of an employee’s age.

The Andujar Case

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals, which hears appeals from the federal district courts in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and the United States Virgin Islands, recently issued an instructive opinion in the appeal of an age discrimination verdict under the Law Against Discrimination in the case of Santos Andujar versus General Nutrition Corporation.

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McLaughlin & Nardi, LLC, welcomes aboard the firm’s newest member, Pauline Young.  Pauline M.K. Young joined us when she was a student at New York Law School.  For some reason, after getting to know us she decided to stay.  We could not be happier.  Besides being an excellent attorney, Pauline is, as Reggie Jackson said, the “straw that stirs the drink.”  She is detail oriented, but excels at working with our staff, attorneys, clients, adversaries, judges and juries, and keeping us on an even keel in the most stressful of environments.

Pauline’s practice includes employment law, commercial law, insurance and professional malpractice, tax litigation, business and real estate transactions, solid waste law (including both litigation, transactions and A-901 applications), among a diverse set of cases she has handled.  To say this, however, is give a dry listing of her experience and ignore where her talents lie.  Pauline can be handed the most complex set of problems, figure them out, determine a winning strategy, and pursue it to a successful conclusion.

For example, in one recent case Pauline stepped into a complex construction defect/commercial landlord-tenant case as it was about to go to trial.  She took literally tens of thousands of pages of documents, organized them – but more importantly, in an extremely short time digested and understood them – and put together a winning trial strategy in a case where each side introduced more than five hundred exhibits over two months in a hard fought trial.

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As the holiday season creeps up on us, it’s good that we have the chance to reflect on what we are thankful for. Here at McLaughlin & Nardi we have much to be thankful for this year.

First, we are thankful for you who give us the opportunity to help people for a living. This is a gift which for which we are profoundly grateful.

Second, we are grateful for the people who help us do that. This includes all of the people who work here. There are those whom you see, such as our attorneys and paralegals, but there are many who you don’t see, including those who do the administrative, research and support work which allows the rest of us to be your advocates and counselors. They are more than just coworkers; they are family.

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face-1618921__340-300x192Where We Stand

Given the reports of sexual harassment and sexual assault which have been flooding the news lately, such as those involving Harvey Weinstein, Megyn Kelly and the situation at Fox News, Kevin Spacey, Bill Cosby, and Ray Moore, we want to make clear where we stand.

We are employment lawyers.  We reject all forms of discrimination and harassment, and stand ready to fight for those who have been the victims of such reprehensible conduct.

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imagesNew Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination (the “LAD”) makes it unlawful to discriminate against someone on the basis of race, age, nationality, gender, religion, sexual orientation and several other specifically protected groups.  While this covers an array of relationship scenarios, it is often applied in the context of an employment relationship.

Any person who has been subjected to unlawful discrimination in employment may file a lawsuit under the LAD. The LAD specifically provides for remedies to include all those that are available in typical tort actions.  A tort action is generally a civil action in which one person or entity sues another for some wrongful conduct which the actor committed in breach of some actual or implied duty to the other person or entity (other than by way of a breach of contract).  These damages may involve a number of categories such as back (past lost) pay, front (future) pay, emotional distress, lost benefits, etc.  The act also provides for punitive damages – meaning damages in addition to actual losses which are imposed to punish the wrongdoer for egregious and/or intentional acts, and deter future wrongful acts.

In virtually every employment discrimination case, the plaintiff is required to mitigate her losses.  This means that an employee who has, for example, been fired because of a discriminatory purpose or motivation, must make reasonable efforts to find another job to reduce her damages.

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student-2052868__340-300x198Our employment attorneys represent New Jersey public sector employees in disputes with their governmental employers.  One area in which we frequently see disputes is the failure to give a “Rice Notice” to employees whose employment may be affected by an action by their governmental employers.

New Jersey employees, including non-tenured employees, have the right to advanced notice whenever a governing body, such as a town council or a board of education, is going to discuss the employee’s employment.  This notice is called a “Rice Notice” after the case of Rice vs. Union County Regional Board of Education, which upheld the right.  Normally, under New Jersey’s Open Public Meetings Act, personnel actions must be discussed in closed session unless all the affected employees request in writing that the discussion be held in the open during the public session of the meeting.  The Rice Notice gives the employee the notice they need  to actually exercise that right.

In the recent case of Kean Federation of Teachers vs. Morell, the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey had the opportunity to take a fresh look at the requirements for a Rice Notice.  In that case the Court was faced with a situation where the Board of Trustees of Kean University delegated the task of evaluating recommendations by the University President for the retention or dismissal of faculty members.  The subcommittee evaluated the University President’s recommendations and made its own recommendations to the Full Board.  The full Board of Trustees then voted on those recommendations without discussion.  The Board argued that because it did not actually discuss any employment matters, but just voted without discussion,a Rice Notice was not necessary.

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As the holiday season creeps up on us, it’s good that we have the chance to reflect on what we are thankful for. Here at McLaughlin & Nardi we have much to be thankful for this year.

First, we are thankful for you who give us the opportunity to help people for a living. This is a gift which for which we are profoundly grateful.

Second, we are grateful for the people who help us do that. This includes all of the people who work here. There are those whom you see, such as our attorneys and paralegals, but there are many who you don’t see, including those who do the administrative, research and support work which allows the rest of us to be your advocates and counselors. They are more than just coworkers; they are family.

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office-1319849__180The Corporation Business Tax (“CBT”) is a New Jersey State tax imposed on corporations for the privilege of doing business in the State.   Nearly every state has instituted a similar type of tax on businesses, sometimes including taxes referred to as franchise taxes or privilege taxes.  This tax is income-based and is measured by the net income which may be allocated to  New Jersey.  CBTs go towards general State use, with 4 percent of the CBT revenue dedicated to environmental projects and activities.

The following entities are exempt from CBT: corporations created under the limited-dividend housing corporation law, nonprofit cemetery corporations, nonprofit corporations without capital stock, federal corporations exempt from state taxes, certain agricultural cooperative associations, non-stock mutual housing corporations, canal and railroad corporations, water and sewer corporations, insurance companies subject to premiums tax, and certain municipal electric corporations.

A corporation may be either a “C” Corporation or a“S” Corporation.  Generally, a corporation chooses its election of classification when it is being formed.  A “C” corporation is subject to what is commonly referred to as “double taxation” because a C corporation’s revenue is taxed first as company revenue and then again when the shareholders are taxed for the revenue.  However, there are also certain tax advantages including being able to deduct certain business expenses.  On the other hand a “S” corporation is only taxed at the individual level, commonly referred to as a “pass-through” tax entity.  The owners of the company are the only ones taxed for profit of the company.  “S” corporation owners may be able to deduct corporate losses on personal tax returns.   There are also a myriad of considerations in addition to tax factors which should be considered before making the determination as to what type of company to form.

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frankfort-105591_960_720The Supreme Court of the United States has recently issued an opinion holding that, even perceived speech or associations (as opposed to just actual speech or associations) are protected by the Civil Rights Act.

A police officer, Jeffrey Heffernan, working in Paterson, New Jersey filed suit seeking redress for his demotion after he had been seen speaking to staff members for a candidate running for mayor and holding a yard sign supporting that candidate.  The candidate was running against the incumbent mayor who had appointed Heffernan’s superiors.  Heffernan was specifically demoted due to his “overt involvement” in the candidate’s campaign.

Unbeknownst to Heffernan’s superiors, Heffernan did not actually support the candidate, but was merely picking up the sign for his ill mother.

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