The New Jersey Division on Civil Rights enforces the New Jersey Family Leave Act (NJFLA), which requires covered employers to grant eligible employees time off from work in connection with the birth or adoption of a child or the serious illness of a parent, child or spouse. The NJFLA’s definition of “parent” includes a parent-in-law or a stepparent. The NJFLA provides for up to twelve weeks of leave in a 24-month period. The 24-month period begins on the first day of the employee’s first NJFLA leave. 1. Which employers are covered by the NJFLA? All employers with 50 or more  [ Read More ]

Diversity | Sexual Harassment The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) prohibits employers from discriminating in any job-related action, including recruitment, interviewing, hiring, promotions, discharge, compensation and the terms, conditions and privileges of employment on the basis of any of the law’s specified protected categories. These protected categories are: race, creed, color, national origin, nationality, ancestry, age, sex (including pregnancy and sexual harassment), marital status, domestic partnership or civil union status, affectional or sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, atypical hereditary cellular or blood trait, genetic information liability for military service, or mental or physical disability, including AIDS and HIV  [ Read More ]

Frequently, one of the biggest deterrents for potential whistleblowers is the fear of employer retaliation. Realizing this concern, Congress amended the False Claims Act in 1986 to include provisions protecting employee-whistleblowers from retaliation. Congress further strengthened those provisions in 2009 by extending protection to contractors and agents who might not have a formal employment contract, and again in 2010 by extending protection to whistleblowers’ friends and family: Any employee, contractor, or agent shall be entitled to all relief necessary to make that employee, contractor, or agent whole, if that employee, contractor, or agent is discharged, demoted, suspended, threatened, harassed, or  [ Read More ]

Authors: Jedd Mendelson On January 9, 2012, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed into law the New Jersey Trade Secrets Act, which establishes principles governing protection of trade secrets and remedies for their misappropriation. In doing so, New Jersey has joined the mainstream in the trade secrets arena: New York, North Carolina, Massachusetts, and Texas are the only remaining states without a statute modeled on the Uniform Trade Secrets Act. While the New Jersey Trade Secrets Act introduces a statutory framework governing trade secret protection, in many respects it does no more than codify existing case law. The Act became  [ Read More ]

Personal Injury Lawyers Because personal injury encompasses so many areas of law, some personal injury lawyers specialize in only one area, such as mesothelioma or defective products. Other firms practice in all areas of personal injury. If you or someone you love has been harmed due to the negligence or wrongful actions of another person, you may want to consider hiring a personal injury attorney. Personal injury lawsuits cover a wide spectrum of injuries and accidents, including car accidents, toxic exposure and poisoning, defective products and other legal issues. In this section, you will find information on these areas as  [ Read More ]

By: The Wall Street Journal | Management By JOE PALAZZOLO And EMILY GLAZER Federal prosecutors investigating whether U.S. executives at Avon Products Inc. broke foreign-bribery laws have presented evidence in the probe to a grand jury, people familiar with the matter said. Authorities are focused on a 2005 internal audit report by the company that concluded Avon employees in China may have been bribing officials in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, according to three people familiar with the matter. Avon had earlier said it first learned of bribery allegations in 2008. The audit found several hundred thousand dollars  [ Read More ]

Lin-sanity has swept up the NBA over the last week. Now it seems like the phenomenon has gone worldwide. Friday’s 38 point performance by Harvard grad Jeremy Lin for the New York Knicks against the LA Lakers was his greatest performance yet as a starter, since he burst on to the scene and propelled the team to 4 straight wins. Lin now has over 200,000 followers on Twitter. He’s got over 800,000 on Weibo – including 200,000 new ones in the 24 hour period after beating the Lakers. But there’s more to this story than basketball. This isn’t just a  [ Read More ]

By David McMillin · Bankrate.com Wednesday, January 11, 2012 Posted: 1 pm ET Some crafty criminals are aiming to steal one of the most valuable pieces of your personal property: your banking information. In a new warning, the Federal Bureau of Investigation warns account holders of a new spam email scheme that involves a type of malware called “Gameover.” The scheme involves fake emails from the National Automated Clearing House Association, the Federal Reserve or the FDIC. These messages attempt to trick recipients into clicking on a link to resolve some type of issue with their accounts or a recent  [ Read More ]

Economic growth doesn’t always mean jobs growth. Look at the current U.S. recovery: According to the Commerce Department, the economy has been growing for the past 10 straight quarters. In fact, the U.S. now produces more goods and services than it did before the downturn began in 2007. Unfortunately, this greater output is being done with 6 million fewer workers. Corporate profits are at an all-time high. But companies are sitting on record amounts of cash, or are investing in equipment rather than their work force. The average monthly jobs growth has only been 135,000, which barely keeps up with  [ Read More ]

This is stunning. regardless of one’s position on this issue, it is amazing to see how much the political winds have shifted on education issues. the fact that a bill like this is introduced in New Jersey by an influential democrat reveals the fundamental adjustments in our political landscape…and evolution of public opinion. five years ago such reform would have been unthinkable. whether you agree with this legislation or not, one thing is clear: this is a big deal. a big deal for teachers, taxpayers and students. let’s see how it plays out. By APP.com TRENTON — The head of  [ Read More ]

If you have information regarding a securities fraud violation, you can contact our law firm in complete confidentiality and receive a reward for the information that you provide….Click Here to visit Mashel Law Firms main website. By William Spain CHICAGO (MarketWatch) — The Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday charged medical device company Smith & Nephew under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for bribing Greek public doctors over more than a decade. Smith & Nephew SNN -0.90% will pay more than $22 million as part of a deal with the SEC and U.S. Department of Justice. The complaint alleges that  [ Read More ]

By Sarah M. Wojcik | The Express-Times As kickoff draws nearer for the rematch between the New York Giants and New England Patriots, New Jersey law enforcement officers are hoping for a different outcome than last time. That’s not to say authorities are rooting against the G-Men. They just hope fans don’t repeat the enormous wave of drunken drivers seen after the last Big Blue Super Bowl. In 2008, police arrested 176 drunken drivers in what was the second-highest daily number of such arrests ever recorded in the state, officials say. Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa last week announced a  [ Read More ]

From the Washington Bureau By Arthur D. Postal State efforts to collect on unclaimed property held by insurers has mushroomed into private action lawsuits filed in Illinois, Ohio and New York against Prudential and MetLife. The lawsuits are coming to light against the background of a hearing Thursday on inaccuracies related to the Death Master File mainted by the Social Security Administration. The DMF is the primary research tool being used to allege that insurers did not follow applicable state law on unclaimed property, either by not being aggressive enough in seeking to find beneficiaries of life insurance policies, or,  [ Read More ]

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged four former veteran investment bankers and traders at Credit Suisse Group for engaging in a complex scheme to fraudulently overstate the prices of $3 billion in subprime bonds during the height of the subprime credit crisis. The SEC alleges that Credit Suisse’s former global head of structured credit trading Kareem Serageldin and former head of hedge trading David Higgs along with two mortgage bond traders deliberately ignored specific market information showing a sharp decline in the price of subprime bonds under the control of their group. They instead priced them in a way  [ Read More ]