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Progressive discipline is a bedrock principle in New Jersey civil service law.  However, while flexible, progressive discipline has its limits.  The New Jersey Supreme Court recently issued a precedential employment law decision examining when progressive discipline allows forcapt-andrew-209x300 termination of a law enforcement officer’s employment for even a first offense in the case of In the Matter of Brian Ambroise.

Background

The case involved an appeal from an earlier decision by the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey.  I wrote about it here, so I will only briefly outline the facts of the case and how it got to the Supreme Court.

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Under New Jersey employment law, tenure provides college, university and school faculty great protection.  However, this protection is not unlimited.  A New Jersey appeals court explained how courts should review decisions to terminate a tenured college professor in the case of Chee Ng v. Fairleigh Dickinson University.council-of-state-535721__340-300x103

Background

Dr. Chee Ng was a professor of finance at the Silberman College of Business at Fairleigh Dickinson University.  He was granted tenure in 2003, and promoted to full professor in 2007.  In 2009, ten of his students complained to the school regarding Dr. Ng’s conduct in class.  They alleged that he made discriminatory comments in class, mistreated students, and was generally rude.  Similar complaints were made again in 2010.  The department chair counseled him, but similar complaints were made by more students in 2012.  More counseling was held.  Complaints were again received in Fall 2013 and Spring 2015; again, he was counseled.  Dr. Ng then took a sabbatical during the Fall 2015 and Spring 2016 semesters.  However, more student complaints were received upon Dr. Ng’s return.  The complaints were investigated, and the Dean met with Ng and advised him that if there were more upheld student complaints, there would be more severe consequences.

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New Jersey employment law prohibits pregnancy discrimination and disability discrimination.  The United States Third Circuit Court of Appeals recently examined the standard employees must meet to prove pregnancy discrimination and disability discrimination in the case of Peifer v. Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole.columns-round-300x201

Peifer’s Employment with the Board

Samantha Peifer was an employee of the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole.  She was an alcohol and other drugs agent, working with drug and alcohol offenders when they were on parole.  She was required to be able to perform physical activities such as chasing, apprehending and restraining offenders during escapes and arrests.

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New Jersey employment law requires teachers and other public education employees to hold teaching certificates, or other certificates as appropriate to the position, as a prerequisite to holding their job.  A New Jersey appeals court recently examined the legal principles involved when the New Jersey State Board of Examiners determines whether to suspend or revoke a teacher’s teachingnational-gallery-of-art-1380105-m-300x248 certificates in the case of In the Matter of the Certificates of Rita O’Malley by the State Board of Examiners.

Background

Rita O’Malley was a special education teacher.  She held several teaching certificates.  She was employed by the Woodbridge Township School District as a Learning Disabilities Teacher Consultant (“LDTC”), for which she was licensed,.  She tested students, diagnosed learning disabilities, developed individualized education plans (or “IEPs”), and provided guidance to parents and educators on the best programs for those students.

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New Jersey employment law affords significant wage and hour protections to employees through the New Jersey Wage and Hour Law and the New Jersey Wage Payment Law.  Both laws were significantly strengthened by amendments in 2019, adding additional penalties,6-300x225 recovery of attorneys fees, enhanced damages, and a longer, six-year statute of limitations.  One question left open by the Legislature was whether the statute of limitations would be applied retroactively to cover conduct prior to the amendments, or prospectively to cover only conduct from 2019 onward.  The New Jersey Supreme Court has now unambiguously answered that question.

The New Jersey Wage Payment Law

The New Jersey Wage Payment Law was enacted in 1965 and governs the timing and payment of wages.  It prohibits withholdings of wages unless the law expressly allows or requires.  Wages must be paid at least twice per month, and no later than 10 days after the pay period covered.  The employee must be told in advance what she will be earning, and before any changes to her pay are made.  She must be paid all wages due when she leaves employment on the next regular payday.

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The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination prohibits discrimination and harassment in the workplace.  The New Jersey Civil Service Commission published a regulation incorporatingimagesCAWQ89PS this requirement.  However, in the case of Savchenko v. State of New Jersey, the New Jersey Supreme Court found that a portion of this regulation which requested that parties and witnesses keep the investigation confidential had a chilling effect on free speech.  It therefore struck down that portion of the regulation.

Background

The Civil Service Commission understandably seeks to maintain the confidentiality of these investigations, as publication might discourage witnesses from assisting, and victims from coming forward.   The regulation therefore contained a provision which provided that:

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New Jersey employment lawsuits alleging discrimination, harassment or retaliation are often resolved in settlement agreements.  The New Jersey Supreme Court recently clarified theNJ_State_House-300x200 permissible scope of non-disparagement agreements in those settlement agreements in the case of Savage v. Township of Neptune.

Background

Christine Savage was a police officer with the Neptune Township Police Department.  She filed a lawsuit against the Department and certain individuals in 2013 alleging that they violated the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination by sexually harassing her, discriminating against her because of her gender, and retaliating against her because of her complaints of discrimination.  The lawsuit was settled in 2014.  As part of the settlement the Township agreed to give Savage access to training and promote her to sergeant.

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New Jersey civil service law provides employees with an effective avenue for appealing adverse employment decisions to the New Jersey Civil Service Commission.  However, in the case of Matter of Trejo, Police Officer and Union City, a New Jersey appeals court held that an employee may be removed from a civil service hiring list for a negative prior employee disciplinary history.  Thissupreme-administrative-court-3565618_960_720-300x200 decision has significant implications for how employees should handle allegations of misconduct and resulting discipline.

Background

Ana Trejo was a public safety telecommunicator with the Union City Police Department for ten years when she took the civil service examination for police officer.  She passed and was placed on the eligible list.  However, Union City removed Trejo from the list because of her history of civil service employee discipline during her ten year employment as a telecommunicator with the Police Department.  Her disciplinary history included minor discipline for absenteeism; being reprimanded for sharing confidential law enforcement information; and imposition of major discipline for “inappropriate conduct.”  The New Jersey Civil Service Commission gave notice to Trejo that she had been removed from the list for having an “unsatisfactory employment record.”

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New Jersey employment law has generally upheld non-compete (or non-competition) agreements provided they met certain requirements aimed at allowing employees to earn a living.  Non-compete agreements have been much vilified by pro-employee groups, and much5-225x300 supported by pro-employer groups.  However, the United States Federal Trade Commission has issued a rule which would prohibit non-compete agreements.  At least one lawsuit has been filed aiming to block the new regulation, and others are expected.  So whether the rule will take effect, and if so in what form it will be allowed, is still an open question.  However, employers and employees should be prepared, because unless an injunction is issued the rule will become effective in several months.

The Rule

The Rule, part of the United States Code of Federal Regulations, defines non-compete clauses as:

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The Wage and Hour Division of the United States Department of Labor has issued a new regulation vastly increasing the number of employees who are entitled to overtime.

Background

Both Federal and New Jersey employment law both require that employees must be paid one and a half times their regular hourly rate (“timecourthouse-1223280__340-300x200 and a half”) for work beyond forty hours in any week.  However, there are exceptions.  The major exemptions are for executive, administrative, professional, and highly compensated employees.  In addition to the requirements particular to each exemption, the employees cannot be paid less than the threshold for the exemption.

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