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Employment Law

Prepare for the worst: Public employees can sue even for being suspended

12/24/2008

Government employees frequently have a constitutional right to notice and some sort of a hearing before losing their jobs. And according to a recent federal appeals court decision, that right sometimes extends to a suspension or some other discipline that stops short of termination.

No free attorneys for employees who sue

12/24/2008

If anything would add to the avalanche of employment suits already burying employers in litigation, it would be providing free legal counsel to employees who sue. Fortunately, at least one federal court hearing a New Jersey case has nixed the idea.

NJLAD allows personal liability for aiding and abetting

12/24/2008

Supervisors and managers, take note: You may be personally liable for aiding and abetting discrimination that is illegal under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination.

Professor accused of swiping entire program

12/24/2008

New England College has filed suit against poetry professor Anne Marie Macari, alleging she stole its innovative master’s degree program in poetry and set up shop at Drew University in Madison.

State retains control of local school contract oversight

12/24/2008

New regulations that gave the New Jersey Department of Education authority to review and reject pending contracts for top school administrators withstood a legal challenge from the New Jersey Association of School Administrators (NJASA).

Trenton power broker convicted of bribery and pension fraud

12/24/2008

Former state Sen. Wayne Bryant, once one of New Jersey’s most powerful politicians, was convicted of bribery and pension fraud for taking state jobs for which he did no work and steering state business to cronies in return.

Casino workers take one for the team in Atlantic City

12/24/2008

The Atlantic City Council recently repealed a temporary ban on smoking in the city’s casinos, citing an ailing economy. Not all casino workers are in favor of the change …

Legal limbo or law of the land? The ‘new’ no-match rule from DHS

12/24/2008

In 2007, a U.S. District Court judge in California had enjoined the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from enforcing new rules that changed the language of the no-match letters issued by the Social Security Administration and the requirements for how employers must respond to the letters. DHS announced that its final no-match rule was taking effect Oct. 28, 2008.

I-9, FMLA, ADA overhaul: Are you ready?

12/24/2008

The year that the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) predicts will carry “the most sweeping HR-related changes in 30 years” starts with a bang this month as HR professionals must adapt to important changes to two key employment laws—the FMLA and the ADA—and replace their I-9 forms.

Congress OKs pension-plan funding relief bill

12/24/2008

Employer retirement plans suffered huge losses in 2008, and employers would face even more burdens if they had to comply with new, stricter funding rules passed under the Pension Protection Act of 2006. For that reason, Congress last month voted to ease those rules …