A recent decision by the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey recognizes that an employer filing a lawsuit against an employee because he asserted a discrimination claim against it can be an act of unlawful retaliation in ...
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THE NEW YORK & NEW JERSEY EMPLOYMENT LAW NEWSLETTER 

 
Rabner Baumgart Ben-Asher & Nirenberg, P.C.
135 Chestnut Ridge Road, Suite 230
Montvale, New Jersey 07645
Tel: (201) 777-2250
Fax: (201) 777-2260


Index of Articles


New Jersey Employment Lawyer Blog - 5 new articles

Employees Can Proceed with Claim Employer Sued Them for Alleging Discrimination

A recent decision by the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey recognizes that an employer filing a lawsuit against an employee because he asserted a discrimination claim against it can be an act of unlawful retaliation in violation of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (“LAD”) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”).

Employer's lawsuit can be act of discrimination against employeeThe retaliation claim was asserted by Jean-Claude Franchitti and Vartan Piroumian, two former employees of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation and Cognizant Technology Solutions U.S. Corporation.  Mr. Franchitti was Cognizant’s Chief Architect and Assistant Vice President, and Mr. Piroumian was its Principal Architect and Enterprise Architect.

Mr. Franchitti and Mr. Piroumian each previously asserted discrimination and retaliation claims against Cognizant.  Mr. Franchitti filed a Charge of Discrimination with the United States Equal Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) asserting age discrimination, national origin discrimination and retaliation, as well as a subsequent lawsuit in California asserting the same claims, a claim under the False Claims Act alleging the company was engaging in visa fraud, and a lawsuit in New York alleging retaliation.  Mr. Piroumian has filed two Charges of Discrimination against Cognizant with the EEOC alleging unlawful discrimination and retaliation.


Court Dismisses Failure to Accommodate Claim But Allows Related Retaliation Claim to Proceed

Recently, the District of New Jersey dismissed an employee’s disability discrimination and failure to accommodate disability claims, but did not dismiss her related retaliation claim.

Female employee can proceed with retaliation claimAmber Ray worked as a Project Manager/Estimator for Elecnor Hawkeye, LLC.  Before she began working for Elecnor, Ms. Ray had been diagnosed with Lupus. However, sometime after Elecnor fired her, she learned she had been misdiagnosis and actually had Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which is a complex musculoskeletal condition, and several other auto-immune conditions.

On Friday, July 30, 2021, Ms. Ray sent a text message to her supervisor, Hal Meeler, informing him that she would be working from home that day.  In response, Mr. Meeler told Ms. Ray she was required to work in the office, and he would discuss the issue with her on Monday.


Gerber Must Bring Witness to New Jersey to Testify in Discrimination Lawsuit

A recent decision from the New Jersey Appellate Division affirms a trial court’s order requiring Gerber Products Company to bring a witness from Switzerland to New Jersey, at Gerber’s expense, to testify at a deposition in a discrimination lawsuit.  A deposition is a formal interview under oath used to obtain testimony from witnesses in lawsuits.

Bayer ordered to pay to bring witness from Switzerland to testify in discrimination lawsuit.Denise Willson is a former Vice President of Medical Sales North America for Nestlé Infant Nutrition.  Ms. Willson sued Gerber Products Company, Nestlé Healthcare Nutrition, Inc., Nestlé Holdings, Inc., and Gerber’s President and CEO, William Partyka, alleging they discriminated against her because of her age and gender.  More specifically, she claims they fostered a “boys club” culture, paid her less than her younger male peers, denied her a promotion to the position of general manager, and ultimately fired her in retaliation for her complaints about the discrimination in violation of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (“LAD”).

As part of her lawsuit, Ms. Willson alleges she spoke to Mr. Partyka’s supervisor, Alexandre Costa, about the retaliatory termination, gender discrimination and Gerber’s failure to promote her.  When Ms. Willson’s lawyers sought to take Mr. Costa’s deposition, the defendants objected. They argued that Mr. Costa lives in Switzerland, claims his meeting with Ms. Wilsson was about sales rather than her allegations of discrimination and retaliation, denies he was involved in the decision to terminate her employment or has any other information pertinent to her case, and that requiring him to come to New Jersey for his deposition supposedly would “create a tremendous burden on [his] business.”  The defendants also argued that neither Mr. Costa nor his employer, Nestlé Enterprises S.A., is a party to the lawsuit.


Court Analyzes Prospective Tenant’s Sexual Harassment Claim

In a recent ruling, New Jersey’s Appellate Division recognized that the same basic legal principles that apply to sexual harassment claims in employment under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (“LAD”) also apply to sexual harassment claims involving housing discrimination under the LAD.  The LAD is a law that prohibits discrimination in the context of both employment and housing.

Leasing company can be liable for sexual harassment against prospective tenant.In November 2019, Sira Traore attempted to lease an apartment for her family and financial assistance from Fairview Homes Preservation, L.P. (“Fairview).  She met with Ricardo Mendoza, who was an employee of Related Management Company, L.P. (“Related”), a company that manages and leases apartments on behalf of Fairview.

Ms. Traore claims that when she met with Mr. Mendoza he touched her and pressured her to go to his hotel room to have sex with him in exchange for him providing her a lease for an apartment lease and the housing assistance she was seeking.  Ms. Traore did not agree to have sex with Mr. Mendoza, and claims that as a result she did not receive a lease or housing assistance.  Ms. Traore recorded her conversation with Mr. Mendoza using her cell phone.


Are Non-Compete Agreements Enforceable Against New Jersey Psychotherapists?

A non-compete agreement is a contract that prevents an employee for working for a competitor for a period of time after his or her employment relationship ends.

As a general rule, New Jersey Courts enforce non-compete agreements if the employer has a legitimate interest to protect such as confidential information or client relationships, but only to the extent the restrictions are reasonable under the circumstances, including in terms of their duration and geographic scope.

Are non-compete agreements enforceable against New Jersey psychotherapists?New Jersey Courts have recognized that there are two categories of employees for whom non-compete agreement cannot be enforced: Lawyers and psychologists.  But there also is some support in the law that non-compete agreements may not be enforceable against other types of psychotherapists, such as Licensed Social Workers (“LSWs”) and Licensed Clinical Social Workers (“LSCWs”).


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Rabner Baumgart Ben-Asher & Nirenberg, P.C.
135 Chestnut Ridge Road, Suite 230
Montvale, New Jersey 07645
Tel: (201) 777-2250
Fax: (201) 777-2260


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