EMPLOYMENT LAW

• Our firm has experience and is comfortable representing an employee or an employer.
• Employees of the State of New Jersey enjoy two of the most protective statutes in the New Jersey Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA) and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD).
• The Law prohibits an employer to discriminate because of race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, age, matrimonial status, domestic partnership status, sexual orientation, sex or disability.

The Simon Law Group represents both employees and employers regarding employment issues having legal implications that may come up during the course of a day or during the course of an individual’s employment. Many small to mid-size businesses do not have corporate counsel on staff and find that contacting large law firms with corporate departments prove too expensive for their bottom line. We are cognizant of our employer clients’ costs and can be counted on to provide sound legal advice so that our employer clients may make sound business judgments in as cost effective a manner as possible.

The Simon Law Group also has expertise in representing employees who have been victims of common law and statutory violations of sexual harassment, whistle blower protection, employment discrimination and claims for wrongful termination.

The lawyers The Simon Law Group will evaluate cases on behalf of either the employee or employer involving common law or statutory claims for discrimination, sexual harassment, whistle blower protection and claims for wrongful termination. We will fully explain your options to you and the legal implications of the decisions available to you. We will also aggressively litigate claims advanced by our employee clients and aggressively defend litigation advanced against our employer clients.

For legal representation, contact our firm 800-709-1131

Sexual harassment is defined as any unwelcome contact or conduct on the basis of gender which impacts a person's job. The legal sexual harassment definition does not limit sexual harassment to conduct that is of a sexual nature.

Types of Sexual Harassment

The first type of sexual harassment is known as quid pro quo or "this for that" sexual harassment. Quid pro quo sexual harassment involves a threat of some punitive action, such as firing or demotion, if the victim refuses the advances of the harasser. Quid pro quo sexual harassment will only be found if the person making the threats actually has the authority to carry them out.

Hostile Work Environment

The second category of sexual harassment is hostile environment sexual harassment. Hostile environment sexual harassment consists of any gender-based unwelcome conduct by a supervisor, co-worker, customer, vendor or anyone else with whom the victim may interact in the workplace. There are a number of behaviors which have been found to create a sexually hostile work environment including:

• Unfulfilled threats to impose a quid pro quo
• Discussing sexual acts or other sexually related activities
• Displaying pornographic or sexually explicit or suggestive materials
• Telling sexually graphic or off-color jokes
• Unnecessary touching
• Commenting on physical attributes
• Using demeaning, degrading, or inappropriate terms, such as “babe” or “honey”
• Using crude, offensive, or indecent language
• Sabotaging or interfering with the victim's work
• Engaging in physically hostile, aggressive, or threatening conduct
• Granting job favors to persons who engage in consensual sexual activity

Courts consider other factors in determining whether sexual harassment exists, including whether a "reasonable person" would find the conduct so abusive as to constitute sexual harassment.

CALL TODAY FOR YOUR FREE CONSULTATION 800-709-1131

The term “wrongful termination” is misleading because in NEW JERSEY and most other states, without a written Agreement for a specific term, employment is “at will.” This means that employers can fire or terminate you for any reason, or for no reason at all, unless:

A. Your rights are protected under employment discrimination laws. Employers cannot discriminate against you on the basis of age, race, gender, disability or perceived disability, religion and/or national origin, pregnancy status, marital status, or sexual orientation.

B.  You have an employment contract, either written or implied, with the employer, who agreed that you cannot be fired without just cause for a specific period of time. The terms of the contract will usually determine the reasons for which you can be fired.

If you believe you have been fired for questionable reasons that may constitute employment discrimination or a breach of contract , then you might consider discussing your concerns with an employment attorney.

CALL TODAY FOR YOUR FREE CONSULTATION 800-709-1131