New Jersey Employment Lawyer Blog

Earlier this month, New Jersey's Appellate Division reversed a trial court's decision to dismiss two employees' sexual harassment case against their employer, the Mercer County Youth Detention Center. In Wallace v. Mercer County Youth Detention Center, the Appellate Division ruled that a jury needs to decide whether the employer's anti-harassment policy was effective. Employers can be held liable under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) for sexual harassment committed by a coworker if the employer did not have an effective anti-harassment policy.

Moneck Wallace and Tina Stewart, two female employees who worked for the Mercer County Youth Detention Center, claim a male coworker, Jerel Livingston, sexually harassed them. Ms. Wallace and Ms. Stewart both complained about the sexual harassment. After conducting an investigation, the employer concluded that there was insufficient evidence to support their claims. The two women then filed a sexual harassment lawsuit.

The trial judge dismissed the case even though it found that Ms. Wallace and Ms. Stewart had enough evidence to prove that Mr. Livingston sexually harassed them. However, it concluded that their employer could not be held liable for the harassment because the alleged harasser was not a supervisor, and Ms. Wallace and Ms. Stewart did not have any evidence that their employer was aware of the harassment but failed to respond to it.

The Appellate Division disagreed with the trial court's decision to dismiss the case. It explained that an employee might be able to prove her employer is liable for harassment committed by a supervisor or coworker if the employer did not have an effective anti-harassment policy.

The Appellate Division concluded that Ms. Wallace and Ms. Stewart had enough evidence to allow a jury to conclude that Mercer County did not have an effective anti-harassment policy. This included evidence that it:

1. Did not effectively inform its employees about its sexual harassment policy;
   
2. Did not provide adequate anti-harassment training to its employees;
   
3. Did not effectively enforce its anti-harassment policy;
   
4. Did not conduct a sufficient investigation into the alleged sexual harassment;
   
5. Did not use clear criteria when it evaluated whether the sexual harassment claim was substantiated; and
   
6. Did not have effective procedures to evaluate whether its sexual harassment policy was effective.

Continue reading "New Jersey Court Rules Jury Must Decide If Employer is Responsible for Coworker's Sexual Harassment" »

New Jersey's Appellate Division recently ruled that when a company does not follow through with the plan it used to justify firing an employee, such as its plan for a reorganization or reduction in force, that failure can be enough for a jury to conclude that the decision to fire the employee was discriminatory.

In Abraham v. American International Group, Inc., Lisbi Abraham sued American International Group (AIG) claiming the company fired him because of his race and national origin, in violation of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD). Mr. Abraham is a United States citizen of Indian descent. His was AIG's Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for the company's Domestic Brokerage and Information Services Groups. The LAD prohibits companies from firing employees based on their race or national origin.

In October 2005, AIG issued a report which concluded that it should eliminate 13 of its 20 CTO positions. In May 2006, AIG fired Mr. Abraham. AIG claimed it fired him because it was restructuring the Information Services Group to eliminate duplication and redundancy of job functions.

The Appellate Division explained that one way a plaintiff can prove discrimination is by offering evidence that discredits the employer's explanation for its actions. It ruled that Mr. Abraham had evidence to discredit AIG's claim that it fired him as part of a job restructuring. In particular, although several other people temporarily took over Mr. Abraham's job duties after he was fired, none of his functions were permanently transferred to other employees. Since there is evidence that Mr. Abraham's job never was merged into another job, as AIG claimed it intended to do when it justified firing Mr. Abraham, the Appellate Division ruled that a jury could conclude that AIG fired him because of his race or national origin.

The Appellate Division was careful to recognize that courts should not act as "super-personnel departments," or second-guess employment decisions such as job restructuring. However, it also recognized that companies can violate the LAD in many "subtle and nuanced ways," that there is rarely "smoking gun" evidence to prove discrimination, and that often there are not even any overt acts of discrimination. The court concluded that, after a trial, a jury could find that AIG discriminated against Mr. Abraham because of his race or national origin, or it could find that AIG's decision to fire him was legitimate. It therefore sent his case back for a trial.

Continue reading "Employer's Failure to Follow Job Restructuring Plan Could Prove Discrimination" »

Last week, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that statistical evidence could be enough to prove that Newark's residency requirement for its non-uniformed employees has a disparate impact based on race. A disparate impact claim is when someone claims that a seemingly neutral policy has a disproportionately negative impact on a particular legally protected group.

Specifically, in Meditz v. City of Newark, Gregory Meditz sued Newark after it refused to hire him as its Housing Development Analyst because he lives in Rutherford, rather than in Newark, New Jersey. He claims the Newark's residency requirement for its non-uniformed employees is illegal because it has a disparate impact on non-Hispanic whites, since the population of Newark does not reflect the racial mix of the relevant job market. He alleges that fewer non-Hispanic white employees work for Newark as non-uniformed employees because of the residency requirement.

To support his claim, Mr. Meditz used statistics showing there is a much lower percentage of non-Hispanic white employees who work for Newark in non-uniformed positions (1) than there are in the general population of Newark, (2) than work for Newark in uniformed positions than non-uniformed positions, (3) than work for the government and private companies in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, and Union Counties, and (4) than work for the Essex County government in Newark.

Despite this evidence, the District Court dismissed Mr. Meditz's employment discrimination lawsuit, finding his statistical evidence was not enough to prove that Newark's residency requirement has a disparate impact based on race. The lower court relied on the fact that "Newark is New Jersey's largest city with over 270,000 residents, 38,950 of whom are White." It concluded that "[g]iven its diversity and large population, there is no need to redefine the relevant labor market past city limits for purposes of Title VII analysis." Title VII is a federal employment law that prohibits employers from discriminating based on an employee's race, color, national origin, or gender.

However, the Court of Appeals disagreed and allowed Mr. Meditz to proceed with his case. It found his statistical evidence might be enough to prove that Newark's residency requirement has a disparate impact based on race. However, it ruled that the District Court has to determine the relevant labor market before it can determine whether Mr. Meditz's statistics prove his claim. The Third Circuit concluded that the District Court must consider factors including geographic location, available transportation to Newark, commuting patterns, and where employees working for private companies in Newark live.

If Mr. Meditz can prove that Newark's residency requirement has a disparate impact based on race, then Newark's only defense would be that it has a "business necessity" for having a residency policy. That means Newark would have to prove that the hiring criteria "must effectively measure the minimum qualifications for successful performance of the job in question." Otherwise, its residency requirement would have an illegal disparate impact based on race, in violation of Title VII.

Continue reading "Third Circuit Finds Newark Hiring Practice Might Discriminate Based on Race" »