Employment Discrimination

Understanding Anti-Discrimination

The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (“LAD”) strictly prohibits discrimination in the workplace. Indeed, individuals have the the right to work in a professional atmosphere that promotes equal employment opportunities and prohibits practices such as employment terminations, demotions, and the denial of promotions motivated by discriminatory biases.  

Types of Discrimination in the Workplace

Discrimination in the workplace is prohibited against any employee or applicant for employment based on race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, pregnancy, sexual orientation, disability, genetic information, status as a covered veteran, creed, nationality, ancestry, marital status, domestic partnership status, civil union status, gender identity or expression, atypical hereditary cellular or blood trait, liability for service in the Armed Forces of the United States, HIV or AIDS status, or any classification covered by applicable federal, state and/or local laws.  This applies to all personnel actions including recruiting, hiring, training, transfer, promotion, job benefits, performance evaluation, discipline, and dismissal.

Age

Age discrimination in the workplace is strictly prohibited.  Age is a protected category under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination as well as the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (which prohibits discrimination in the workplace against individuals who are 40 years of age or older. 

Unfortunately, a substantial number of employees in the workplace begin to get phased out as their earnings increase and they near retirement age.  While there usually is no direct evidence of age discrimination, there is often a subtle innuendo that creates an inference that an employment decision may be motivated by an individual’s age.  Therefore, it is important for you to understand your rights if you believe you are experiencing age-based discrimination in the workplace.  

Gender or Sexuality

Gender-based discrimination and harassment are prevalent in the workplace.  Harassment or a hostile work environment essentially is unwelcome, unsolicited conduct of a sexual nature or based on membership due to an individual’s gender, which has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work atmosphere, or which creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment.  Another form of harassment is known as quid pro quo harassment is where submission to unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature is made a term and condition of employment, or where submission to or rejection of such behavior forms the basis for employment decisions.  If you are experiencing gender-based discrimination in the workplace, it is vital that you know your rights. 

Disability

Both the Americans with Disabilities Act and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination prohibit discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all employment practices, including job application procedures, hiring, firing, advancement, compensation, training, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment.  If an individual makes a request for a workplace accommodation due to disability, an employer is required to engage in dialogue known as the interactive process to explore potential reasonable accommodation options.   Legal issues associated with accommodation requests tend to be complicated.  Accordingly, it is important for you to understand your legal rights and employer obligations in this context.   

Race

Both federal law and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination prohibit discrimination in the workplace based on race regarding all personnel actions including recruiting, hiring, training, transfer, promotion, job benefits, performance evaluation, discipline, and termination.  In addition, race-based workplace harassment is also strictly prohibited in the workplace under federal and state law.    

Religion

Both federal law and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination prohibit religious discrimination. Indeed, federal and state employment laws provide equal employment opportunities to all individuals, regardless of their religious beliefs and practices or lack thereof.  As such, employers are required to provide reasonable accommodations for an employee’s sincerely held religious belief if the accommodation would resolve a conflict between the individual’s religious beliefs or practices and a work requirement unless doing so would impose an undue hardship for the employer. 

Veteran Status

The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act provides certain reemployment rights to military service members and prohibits discrimination and retaliation against military service members.  The Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act prohibits federal contractors and subcontractors from discriminating against protected service members and requires employers to take affirmative action to recruit, hire, promote, and retain military service members.  In addition, the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination prohibits discrimination against covered veterans.  If you are a military service member, it is essential that you understand your legal rights in the workplace. 

How Discrimination Can Manifest in the Workplace

Discrimination in the workplace may take many different forms.  Examples include unduly harsh discipline; failure to promote; termination of employment; unwelcome jokes; innuendo; commentary about an individual’s body (whether or not intended to be complimentary), sexual prowess or sexual deficiency, epithets or slurs, other unwelcome remarks with sexual content or content based on an individual’s sex, race, color, national original, nationality, ancestry, religion, creed, age, disability, genetic information, military status, marital status, civil union status, domestic partnership status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, atypical hereditary cellular or blood trait, genetic information, refusal to submit to a genetic test or make available the results of a genetic test to an employer, or any other legally protected classification. 

How an Employment Discrimination Attorney Can Help

It is traumatic for an employee to be subject to unlawful discrimination in the workplace.  Unlawful discrimination often negatively impacts an individual’s physical and emotional well-being.  As such, it is important to retain an attorney that you trust.  Curcio Law lawyers understand this and empathize with the clients, utilizing their vast experience to strongly advocate for their clients and provide strategic legal advice to help them navigate through their complex legal issues. 

Retain a New Jersey Employment Discrimination Attorney

If you are in need of legal representation to assist you with an employment discrimination matter and/or are in need of the services of an experienced and well-versed New Jersey employment lawyer, please contact Curcio Law