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McOmber McOmber & Luber

Business & Employment Lawyers Red Bank & Marlton New Jersey

(732) 842-6500
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Katherine Napolitano

No one likes a tattle tale, but it is not advisable to use your fists to stand up to bullies at work. Unfortunately, harassment and bullying take place in the workplace at least as much as they do on the schoolyard.  Harassment of employees and coworkers is a form of employment discrimination, which means that it is against the law. The best way to stop harassment at work is to report it to the relevant parties in as much detail as possible. If people at your workplace have been harassing and mistreating you, whether, through derogatory remarks, practical jokes, or even unwanted touching or physical assault, you should document everything and then contact a hostile work environment harassment lawyer. 

Will Things Get Better or Worse When You Talk to the Human Resources Department? 

In most cases, the first person to contact should be the human resources department at your company or organization. You should cite specific instances of harassment and the dates when they took place.  Ideally, the human resources department will respond with a solution that makes the harassment stop, but that is not always what happens. Sometimes, the harassment gets worse after you report it to human resources. Your employer might even take an adverse action against you, such as denying you a pay raise the next time you become eligible for one. When your employer punishes you for a legally protected action, such as complaining about mistreatment you are experiencing at work, this is retaliation, and it is illegal. 

Filing a Complaint With the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 

If things get worse after you report the harassment to human resources, the next place to contact is the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Your EEOC counselor will advise you about filing a formal complaint to the EEOC, which will begin an investigation, at the end of which the EEOC will decide whether to file an employment discrimination lawsuit on your behalf. Hiring an employment lawyer is not a prerequisite for dealing with the EEOC, but it can make your interactions with them more fruitful. 

It Is Not Too Soon to Contact an Employment Lawyer 

Before the court will consider an employment discrimination lawsuit about workplace harassment or any other form of discrimination, you must go through the preliminary steps of filing an internal complaint with your company’s human resources office, if your company is big enough to have one, and then an external complaint with the EEOC. For best results, you should start working with a lawyer long before your case gets to the lawsuit stage. Employment lawyers can help you identify workplace harassment and effectively take action to stop it. 

Contact an Employment Lawyer About Taking Action Against Workplace Harassment 

The time to contact a lawyer about workplace harassment is now. A hostile work environment harassment lawyer can help you speak out effectively against bullying in your workplace. McOmber McOmber & Luber, P.C.’s employment lawyers are available for consultation. Please call our office in Red Bank, New Jersey at 732-842-6500, our Marlton, New Jersey office at 856-985-9800, or our Newark, New Jersey office at 973-787-9040 find out more.

Being a lawyer has always been a stressful job. While people in other industries might complain about the pointlessness of their jobs or that they get work-related phone calls and emails outside of their usual 40-hour workweek, a lot more is at stake for lawyers. As a lawyer, those phone calls and emails are providing valuable information, so you welcome them. The real stress is how much your clients stand to lose if you do not handle their cases well; depending on your practice area, it could just be money, or it could be their freedom or their relationship with their children. Whether you are a lawyer or a member of any other profession, a Red Bank employment lawyer can help you exercise your legal rights as an employee. 

Lawyers Are Feeling the Stress of Burnout 

The COVID-19 pandemic is stressful for everyone, both for people whose occupations require them to be onsite at their jobs no matter how high the number of new COVID infections and for those whose jobs required them to transfer hastily to a work from home situation where they must attend glitchy virtual meetings at the same dining table where their children attend glitchy virtual class sessions. While lawyers in some practice areas were in the habit of meeting with clients and colleagues virtually even before the pandemic, the constant shifting of policies and expectations in the workplace is as stressful in law firms as in any other place of employment. Lawyers are as worried as anyone else about being exposed to COVID when they return to work in person and as stressed about isolating themselves from family members if someone with whom they were in close contact tests positive. 

Which Legal Services Are in Demand During the Pandemic? 

The services of lawyers are essential to helping society cope with the lasting effects of the pandemic. Amid mass layoffs and the Great Resignation, bankruptcy lawyers and employment lawyers find their services in especially high demand. Employment lawyers are increasingly taking on cases where employees are in dispute with their employers about COVID-19 policies and non-compete agreements. Family law attorneys are helping clients resolve disputes about co-parenting during the pandemic. As for business law attorneys, they are receiving an increasing number of panel firm requests for proposals (RFPs) from corporate clients. Like employers in many other industries, law firms are finding it increasingly difficult to find prospective employees. According to Nancey Watson of Reuters, some law firms in the United States have started recruiting lawyers from Canada to work for them because they could not find enough job candidates in the United States. 

Contact an Employment Lawyer About the Future of the Legal Profession 

Your employment lawyers at McOmber McOmber & Luber appreciate the work that lawyers in all practice areas do, with or without the pandemic, and can help you strategize about employment challenges that you are facing. McOmber McOmber & Luber, P.C.’s employment lawyers are available for consultation. Please call our office in Red Bank, New Jersey at 732-842-6500, our Marlton, New Jersey office at 856-985-9800, or our Newark, New Jersey office at 973-787-9040 find out more.

You may have learned that most of the laws that affect your daily life are state laws, not federal ones. Thus, the skills you must demonstrate on the road test in order to get a driver’s license vary from one state to another, as do the laws about the sale and growing of cannabis. In 2015, the United States Supreme Court issued a decision on Obergefell v. Hodges, declaring that states do not have the right to outlaw same-sex marriage. Since then, the decision has seen numerous challenges. New Jersey state legislators, including some who sponsored New Jersey’s Marriage Equality Act, drafted a law last year that would make marriage equality part a New Jersey State law, even if the Supreme Court were to erode protections for marriage equality at the federal level. Contact a Red Bank LGBT discrimination in the workplace lawyer with questions about marriage equality, employment discrimination, and New Jersey law.

New Law Requires Gender-Neutral Interpretation of Marriage Laws

On January 10, 2022, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed into law S3416, which states that all laws regarding marriage and civil unions must be interpreted as gender-neutral, meaning that the parties to the marriage or civil union can be of any gender. Before the passage of the law, protections for marriage equality existed in the form of federal and state court decisions, but S3416 is the first law to enshrine marriage equality in New Jersey at the statutory level.

In 2012, New Jersey legislators proposed the Marriage Equality Act, but former Governor Chris Christie vetoed it, before the New Jersey Supreme Court issued a decision legalizing same-sex marriage. Some of the sponsors of S3416 played a role in drafting or sponsoring the 2012 bill, and others joined the legislature more recently. These are the primary sponsors of SB3416:

  • Senate President Steve Sweeney
  • Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg
  • Senator Vin Gopal
  • Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle
  • Assemblywoman Mila Jasey
  • Assemblywoman Annette Quijano
  • Assemblyman Andrew Zwicker
  • Assemblywoman Joan Downey

Steven Goldstein and Thomas Prol, who are founding members of Garden State Equality expressed their joy with the enactment of the law, as did Marsha Shapiro and Louise Walpin, who are one of the first same-sex couples to register their marriage legally in New Jersey. Garden State Equality was a party in the 2013 case Garden State Equality v. Dow, in which the New Jersey Supreme Court ruling made same-sex marriage legal.

One of the motivations for enacting S3416 now was that, after three justices were confirmed during the Trump administration, the chances that the Supreme Court may overturn Obergefell v. Hodges are higher than they have been at any time since the decision was issued.

Contact an Employment Lawyer About Marriage Equality in the Workplace

An LGBTQ+ employment discrimination lawyer can help you protect yourself from employment discrimination in your place of employment, in light of the new law. Contact McOmber McOmber & Luber to learn more. Call our office in Red Bank, New Jersey at 732-842-6500, our Marlton, New Jersey office at 856-985-9800, or our Newark, New Jersey office at 973-878-9040.  

The COVID-19 pandemic has hurt businesses like never before. Early on in the pandemic, state governments shut down non-essential retail establishments and many businesses in the service industry, such as restaurants and bars. In recent months, New Jersey Governor Murphy has lifted the majority of the restrictive measures due to the highly effective COVID-19 vaccine and treatments.   

Nevertheless, both state and federal governments continue to emphasize the ongoing need to protect employees and patrons in the service industry, especially in bars and restaurants. Unfortunately, not all businesses are complying with these precautions leaving employees and their families at risk for contracting the virus.  If you work at a restaurant and are concerned about your safety, McOmber McOmber & Luber P.C. has compiled the following information for you.   

Are Bars and Restaurants Required to Maintain Strict COVID-19 Protocols?  

No. Under Executive Order 243, New Jersey no longer requires bars and restaurants to implement strict COVID-19 protection measures.  Masks are no longer required and facilities can now operate at full capacity without regard to six feet of distance between tables or bar seats.  

Dance floors, indoor bar seating, buffets and self-service food stations, and ancillary activities such as karaoke and standing service are now all permitted. 

What Should Bars and Restaurants Do To Keep Employees Safe? 

To stop the spread of COVID-19 and keep employees and customers safe, restaurants and bars are encouraged to require masks indoors if individuals are not vaccinated. In addition, while no longer required, businesses are encouraged to provide sanitation materials to employees free of charge and provide employees sufficient break time to practice hand hygiene.  

It is recommended that employers continue to conduct daily health checks of its employees, such as temperature screenings and symptom checking consistent with CDC guidance. If employees are sick, they should be encouraged to stay home. Employers should continue to notify employees promptly of any known exposure to COVID-19. 

The New Jersey Department of Health has released additional safety recommendations for indoor and outdoor dining that can be found here. 

Can I Still Wear My Mask at Work? 

Yes. Even though New Jersey no longer requires employees to wear masks in bars and restaurants, employers are prohibited from restricting them from doing so and cannot penalize or retaliate against them for making this choice. Executive Order 243. 

What Do I Do If My Employer is Not Taking Safety Precautions?  

If you believe your employer is not following proper safety measures, you can file a complaint with the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DOLW) and OSHA.  The State has also set up a COVID-19 Information Hub that allows you to file a complaint for COVID-19 violations.  You can find that form here.  

Your employer cannot retaliate against you for filing a complaint pursuant to the New Jersey’s Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA) as well as other state and federal laws.   

 

Healthcare workers say that speaking out about the critical needs and conditions at their facilities is the only way to compel change and save lives. However, it has cost some their jobs. If you have been discharged from your position during the COVID-19 pandemic, you may have a claim for wrongful termination.

A Duty to Inform Other Healthcare Workers

One Los Angeles nurse, Jhonna Porter, felt a duty to alert her co-workers to a seemingly dangerous change on the fifth floor of their hospital. With little notice, the hospital’s administration had converted the floor into a COVID-19 unit.

“The rumors are true,” the Ms. Porter wrote in a private Facebook group used by the floor’s staff. “Be careful.” A few days later, she posted a request for donations on her personal Facebook page. Her floor, which usually operated as a cardiac floor, was ill-equipped to deal with COVID-19 patients. The healthcare workers on the newly-converted COVID-19 floor were not being provided with adequate personal protective equipment (“PPE”). Ms. Porter stated in the post on her personal Facebook page “I’m physically ill from the mental stress. I need anything I can get.”

Within hours of the post, the hospital’s administration called Ms. Porter in for a meeting. An attorney for the hospital accused her of violating patient privacy laws, and the hospital suspended Ms. Porter without pay while it investigated.

Healthcare Facilities Receive Backlash

This move by the healthcare facility, of course, backfired. Because of the public relations wildfire that ensued, Ms. Porter’s facility reinstated her.

However, this is hardly an isolated incident. Healthcare facilities across the country are threatening front-line healthcare workers with retribution for speaking out about PPE shortages or working conditions. Healthcare workers across the country say that administrations have created policies that order employees not to speak with reporters. Some include explicit threats of discipline, while others do not.

Hospital administrators often allege that they are acting to protect patient privacy rights under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”). However, HIPAA is not an issue. HIPAA’s privacy laws prohibit disclosing specific patient information. HIPAA does not bar disclosure of general working conditions. The disclosures being made by heathcare workers are not HIPAA violations. Healthcare workers say that the disclosures are their best hope for pressuring the “decision-makers” at their facilities to make changes to improve hospital conditions and save lives.

Are you a Heathcare Worker? Know Your Rights

If you have been retaliated against or terminated for speaking up about unsafe work conditions, you have certain rights. It is against the law for an employer to retaliate against an employee for exercising a protected right. While healthcare facilities have faced uncharted territory with respect to COVID-19, retaliation and termination of employees who speak out about safety concerns are not appropriate.

Forms of Retaliation

Some examples of retaliatory actions include termination, discipline, demotion, and harassment. If a negative employment action is based on the fact that an employee engaged in a legally protected activity, it can be violative of the employee’s rights. It is illegal to retaliate against employees who speak out about unsafe working conditions, such as lack of PPE, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Protection From Retaliation

Whistleblowers are employees who voice concerns about unsafe work conditions. These workers are shielded from wrongful discharge by the New Jersey Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA).

Employees who shed light on wrongdoing by their employer are protected under state and federal law, and can receive reinstatement to their position, back pay and in some cases a portion of whatever funds government officials recoup from the offending employer.You are also entitled to file a whistleblower complaint if a negative employment action was taken against you for raising a health and safety concern.

At the law offices of McOmber McOmber & Luber, we want to say thank you to all essential workers right now, including the healthcare workers who are risking their own lives during this pandemic. If you need help seeking benefits or navigating your rights as an employee, our legal team can serve you.

Employment Attorneys At McOmber McOmber & Luber, P.C. Advocate On Behalf Of COVID-19 Workers

Our passionate employment law attorneys understand that we are living in an unprecedented time and that for all workers, especially those who are on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, anxiety, fear, and frustration are all very real. If you are a healthcare worker, we want to reassure you that you have certain rights during this time and that you cannot be retaliated against for filing a complaint. The attorneys at McOmber McOmber & Luber, P.C. take a proactive approach to each and every legal issue our clients face. Please call our Red Bank office at 732-842-6500, our Newark office at 973-878-9040, our Marlton office at 856-985-9800, OR contact us at 888-396-0736 or online for a free consultation. We represent clients throughout New Jersey.

As discrimination and civil rights attorneys, we know that the struggle for equality and justice is real.  Racism pervades every facet of our society and we have made it our life’s work to fight for the rights of the oppressed – every single day.  We are so proud to stand with our clients in the fight for the most basic of human rights, which is simply to be treated equally under the law.  The senseless murder of George Floyd at hands of those sworn to protect our society is a stark reminder of the cancer of discrimination that plagues our nation.

While we appreciate “Corporate America” standing with this movement through their finely-tuned press releases, many of those same companies have enabled, perpetrated, and defended racist and sexist policies – and they are doing it at this very moment.  We know this from experience.  Actions speak louder than words and those companies would be well advised to come to terms with their own hypocrisy by taking a long, hard look in the mirror.

“Fighting” racism requires acute observation, action, opposition, commitment, and the fortitude to advocate for change.  It means not tolerating a solitary ounce of discriminatory conduct in your personal or professional life.  It means standing up yourself.  It means standing up for other people, like your coworkers, when you see an injustice – because it is the right thing to do.  We won’t back down from this fight.  We will fight with you, and we will fight for you.  No matter what it takes.  When it comes to civil rights, failure is not an option.

During this unprecedented time, non-essential workers have been asked to work remotely, and those who cannot do so have had their positions of employment suspended. While staying home is certainly the safest thing that people can do right now, especially those who are at increased risk of severe infection; there are some jobs that simply cannot be performed from home. Consider the following about who is considered an essential worker during the COVID-19 crisis, risks these workers face, and what to do if you are an essential worker who needs legal counsel.

Who is Essential During the COVID-19 Pandemic?

The list of who is considered “essential” during this pandemic is long, but can be divided into categories. These categories include:

  • Healthcare and public health workers, including nurses, doctors, psychologists, hospital and laboratory personnel, workers conducting critical research, and more;
  • Law enforcement, public safety, and first responders, including police officers, firefighters, private security, search and rescue personnel, and more;
  • Food and agriculture workers, such as farmers, food distributors, food packers, grocery store workers, workers supporting grocery store and other food operations, restaurant carry-out/takeaway workers, food manufacturer employees, and more;
  • Energy workers, including workers in the electricity industry, petroleum industry, and natural gas and propane gas industries; and
  • Financial services workers, including those responsible for clearing financial transactions.

The above list is not inclusive; many other classes of workers and industries have been classified as essential, but the above categories comprise the majority of workers.

Risks to Essential Employees

Essential employees who are being asked to work right now, oftentimes in direct contact with other people, face a number of serious risks. These risks include:

  • The risk of contracting the coronavirus and suffering severe health consequences, including death, as a result;
  • The risk of contracting the virus and passing it on to another person, including a loved family member or friend;
  • Mental health risks due to increased job demands, stress, depression, and fear;
  • Risks of retaliation if workers state that they do not want to work, are unhappy about workplace safety standards, or need to stay home to care for themselves or a loved one;
  • Increased risk of injury for workers who are working more hours or performing tasks outside of their usual job duties (e.g. the risk of a repetitive strain injury to a grocery store worker who must now assist with unloading and unloading due to a worker shortage) and
  • Risk of lost wages/economic harm if workers choose not to work.

Do You Have Questions About Your Legal Rights as an Essential Working During the Coronavirus Pandemic?

If you have questions about your legal rights, are unsure what protections are available to you, or have been retaliated against by your employer in regards to an action you took in response to coronavirus, please do not hesitate to call our experienced employee rights attorneys at the law office of McOmer McOmber & Luber. We appreciate you and your work during this time of crisis and want to help make sure you understand your rights. Call our Red Bank office at 732-842-6500, our Marlton office at 856-985-9800, our Newark office at 973-878-9040, or contact us at 888-396-0736 or online for a free consultation.

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