New Jersey Lawyers Blog

Published on: November 18, 2013

New Jersey’s Strides Towards Equal Pay for Women

The Unites States Census Bureau has consistently found that women are paid less than men every year. Indeed, the National Women’s Law Center found that in New Jersey in 2012, a woman made approximately 79 cents for every dollar a man made. These discrepancies do not just account for females in different careers from males, but that this pay differential is also present for females in the same or similar fields as their male counterparts.

While New Jersey does not have as wide a gap between men and women as some other states, the pay gap is still clear and ongoing. While discrimination against women has constituted a violation of New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination for decades, it is often difficult to prove. For instance, an employer can simply say that its female employee was being paid less than a similarly situated male employee because the male employee had better qualifications or performed better. It would be rare for an employer to have two employees, one male and one female, who had the same education, the same grades, attended the same schools, had the same level of experience and measures of success, and performed or produced exactly the same. Therefore, it is difficult to prove that any pay discrepancy is due to gender and not some other valid reason.

However, even more basic than that, the employee would have to be able to find out in the first place that she was in fact being paid less than what she would be paid if she were male. Indeed, many employers have a strict policy of forbidding employees from discussing their salaries, wages, or other benefits. While employers have a right to make the determination about what they will pay their employees, employers cannot take something such as gender into account when making that determination, just as employers cannot alter their payments as a result of race or religious beliefs.
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Published on: November 15, 2013

Alternatives to Mortgage Foreclosure in New Jersey

by Jennifer C. Meusel

If you have been served with a foreclosure complaint for failing to make payments on your mortgage, and you would like to keep your home, there are several options available to you: loan modifications, NJ HomeKeeper program, foreclosure mediation, and Chapter 13 bankruptcy. All these programs are available to New Jersey Homeowners, and our attorneys can help you pursue each.

Loan Modification

The Home Affordable Modification Program is a federal program which can lower your monthly mortgage payments and/or wrap arrearages into your loan enabling you to retain ownership of your home. It typically extends the length of your mortgage to forty year mortgage and lowers your interest rate. In order to be considered for a modification, you must submit an application to your lender accompanied by all required back up documentation. This includes a hardship affidavit, tax returns, pay stubs, bank statements, statement of expense, and a recent utility bill.

This can be a difficult process; the lender often requests the same documentation multiple times, or requests minor changes to the documents which have been submitted. Additionally, if time passes after the documents have been submitted without the lender’s review, the lender may require updated current documents be resubmitted. This can be frustrating for the homeowner who is concerned about losing their home. However, persistence can pay off.

NJ Homekeeper

The New Jersey HomeKeeper Program is a New Jersey program which provides financial assistance to homeowners who are unemployed or underemployed and are therefore at risk of losing their homes. To be eligible, you must demonstrate that you were making your mortgage payments until the time you became unemployed (or underemployed) and that the unemployment occurred not more than 36 months before the date of the Homekeeper application. If eligible, NJ Homekeepers can provide up to $48,000 over a period of 24 months which can be used to help make current payments or pay arrearages. The funds provided by NJ Homekeepers are a loan which must be paid back if the homeowner sells, refinances, transfers ownership or no longer occupies the property within 10 years.
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Published on: November 13, 2013

Pretrial Intervention Program

by Boris Peyner

Under New Jersey criminal law, the Pretrial Intervention Program, commonly known as “PTI” provides first-time offenders with the opportunity for an alternative to the ordinary criminal justice prosecution. PTI provides rehabilitative services to deter future criminal behavior. The program is based on a rehabilitative model that recognizes that there may be a casual connection between a charged offense and the rehabilitative needs of a person. The ultimate goal of PTI is to prevent future criminal behavior.

The best benefit of successfully completing PTI is that there is no record of conviction and an individual can avoid the stigma of a criminal record. Additionally, many of the costs associated with the formal court process can be eliminated. However, acceptance into and completion of the PTI program does not remove an arrest from individual’s record. Instead, successful completion of the PTI program will result in the dismissal of the original offense. Therefore an individual who successfully completes the PTI program should still seek to an expungement to remove any record of the original arrest. Failure to successfully complete the program will result in the case returning to the ordinary course of prosecution.

To be eligible for the PTI program, a defendant must be charged with an indictable offense. The program is designed for individuals who have no previous convictions and have never been granted permission into any other diversionary program or discharge. An individual seeking entry into the PTI program must be an adult resident of New Jersey. Individuals charged with criminal or penal offenses in New Jersey criminal or municipal courts can apply.

Published on: November 12, 2013

New Jersey’s Social Media Law

by Pauline M.K. Young

It has become common to hear news stories about employees who posted something on their personal Facebook, or other social media sites, and then got fired as a result of that post. Indeed, employers have, more and more, started to use social media sites as a way of monitoring their employees, even to the point of requiring passwords or access to otherwise “private” websites or submissions.

However, beginning on December 1, 2013, New Jersey will follow the growing trend in other states in enacting legislation which will bar New Jersey employers from asking employees or potential employees for access to their personal social media accounts. This comports with the recent New Jersey law enacted in 2012 which bans colleges from requiring applicants to provide social media account passwords.

This new law specifically prohibits employers from requesting or requiring employees’ usernames, passwords, or other access to personal accounts on websites such as Twitter and Facebook. Further, employees cannot even waive this right. Any waiver of this right is deemed void.
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Published on: November 8, 2013

Suing the Government or Its Employees in New Jersey

by Boris Peyner

Historically and as a matter of public policy, public entities are immune from suit pursuant to the doctrine of “sovereign immunity.” The New Jersey Tort Claims Act, however, creates limited exceptions to sovereign immunity. People are therefore permitted to sue for injuries but must comply with the strict requirements of the Tort Claim Act.

New Jersey’s Tort Claims Act requires that persons who have claims against a governmental entity or its employee notify the public entity within ninety days from the date the claim accrues. The notice must contain the name and address of the claimant, the date, place and circumstances of the occurrence, a general description of the injury, the damage or loss sustained, and the name of the public entity or the employees responsible. Each municipality may have its own tort claim notice form. Failure to provide notice is an absolute bar to later recovery against a governmental unit or its employees. It is therefore critical to ensure compliance with the notice provisions of the Tort Claim Act.

After notice of tort claim is submitted, the government is then permitted a six month review the claim before a lawsuit can be filed. A lawsuit can be filed upon the expiration of the six month period. However, not every injury gives rise to a cause of action that requires providing the municipality with notice and then waiting six months. For example, the Tort Claims Act does not apply to statutory claims such as those brought under New Jersey’s Conscientious Employee Protection Act and New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination. However, because the Tort Claims Act will bar a covered but late claim, it is better to comply now than find out later you were wrong.

Published on: November 6, 2013

Revocation and Suspension of Teachers’ Certifications

by Pauline M.K. Young

Because of the high level of public concern over New Jersey’s children, teaching is a highly regulated and scrutinized industry. Not only are teachers required to meet significantly high standards of education and training, and, in most cases, to have specialized knowledge in their field, but they must also maintain a level of behavior and continued education to maintain their teaching certificates.

If a school board terminates a teacher, or otherwise refuses to renew a teacher’s contract, that school board is required, in some circumstances, to alert the New Jersey State Board of Examiners of discontinuation of employment. For instance, a school district is required to report a discontinuation of a teacher’s employment – even if that is due to the teacher’s resignation or retirement – if the teacher is accused of a criminal offense or “unbecoming conduct.”

The Board of Examiners is the state licensing agency which reviews and monitors teachers. IT has the power to bestow, deny, suspend, or revoke a teacher’s license. The Board of Examiners may revoke or suspend a teacher’s certificate if the teacher demonstrates inefficiency, incapacity, conduct unbecoming a teacher or for any other just cause – such as being convicted of a crime. However, the Board of Examiners cannot revoke or suspend a New Jersey teacher’s certificate unless it gives the teacher notice and the opportunity to be heard.
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Published on: October 28, 2013

New Jersey’s Administrative Law Courts

by Boris Peyner

As our society has grown more complex, the government has been forced to take on more responsibilities. It created administrative agencies in the executive department, including for example, the Department of Environmental Protection, the Board of Public Utilities, the Merit System Board, the Department of Community Affairs, the Casino Control Commission, and Health and Senior Services. These agencies regulate in their respective areas, investigate and prosecute violations, and make decisions and issue penalties. These agencies are known as the “fourth branch” because they combine the functions of all three government branches.

The New Jersey Office of Administrative Law (“OAL”) is an independent state agency that provides independent and neutral hearings over these agency’s actions and rulemaking procedures. Administrative Law Judges (“ALJs”) hold trials to determine facts and make recommended decisions when individuals dispute agency actions. The agency itself then makes final decisions based on the ALJ’s opinion, which can be appealed to the Appellate Division of New Jersey’s Superior Court, and then to the New Jersey Supreme Court.

What To Expect At An OAL Hearing

A request for a hearing should be sent to the appropriate state agency making a decision. That agency will then send the case to the OAL for a hearing. In “contested cases” an ALJ will be assigned, and hold a trial. The ALJ makes a recommended decision which it sends to the agency that sent the case to the OAL. The head of that agency will review the opinion and has the right to adopt, reject, or modify the opinion. That agency’s head is the final decision maker. An appeal of the final decision is available to the Appellate Division of the Superior Court within forty-five days of the date of the final decision.

Notice of Filing

When a case is sent to the OAL a Notice of Filing or a Notice of Filing and Hearing is mailed to all the parties. The notice will identify the agency that sent the request and will generally contain information that can help a party prepare for a hearing, including the issues that will be discussed at the hearing.
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Published on: October 25, 2013

New Jersey’s Security and Financial Empowerment Act

by Pauline M.K. Young

New Jersey has recently enacted the Security and Financial Empowerment Act (“SAFE Act“). This law requires many public and private employers to allow employees to take an unpaid leave of absence up to 20 days in any 12-month period if that employee or someone in the employee’s immediate family (child, parent, or spouse) is a victim of domestic violence or a sexually violent offense.

The leave must be taken for the purposes of seeking medical attention or recovering from physical or psychological injuries, obtaining services from a victim services organization, obtaining counseling, participating in safety planning or relocation, or seeking legal assistance or other legal remedies as a result of sexual or domestic violence.

Each incident of domestic violence or a sexually violent offense is considered separate, each providing for up to 20 days of leave. Leave may be taken intermittently, as opposed to all together, but must be taken in full days. Therefore, if the person taking leave only needs to be out of work from 2-5p.m. on Monday and Thursday, she may take leave on both Monday and Thursday, but one full day of the leave will be credited, even if she is only gone one half day (she must, of course, be paid for the time she worked).

Although the employer is only required to grant unpaid leave, an employee may elect or an employer may require that the employee use paid vacation, sick, or personal time for all or part of the leave.
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Published on: October 23, 2013

New Jersey Name Changes

by Jennifer C. Meusel

Individuals are permitted to change their names as long as they have a permissible reason to do so. Obviously, a name change will not be approved if the purpose or effect of the change is fraudulent, such as avoiding creditors or criminal proceedings. The court can also deny an application for a name change if the reason for the change is “frivolous.”

In order to change your name in New Jersey, you must prepare and file a complaint in the Superior Court of New Jersey. You must certify that the information contained in the complaint is true to the best of your knowledge. The complaint must include: the reason for the name change, your current name, your marital status, that you are not attempting to avoid creditors or criminal prosecution, your citizenship status, the place and date of your birth, and your parents’ names. There is a $200 filing fee which must be paid when the complaint is filed with the court.

After the complaint to change your name and related documents are filed with the Superior Court of New Jersey, the judge will issue an order with a hearing date. You must appear before the judge and ask for your name to be changed. In the order issued by the judge, you will be required to publish the hearing date in a newspaper and present an affidavit of publication to the court. Then, if you properly complied with the notice requirements and the judge is satisfied with the reason for your request, the information you provided and that you are not seeking a name change for a fraudulent purpose, the judge will issue a final judgment changing your name.

If you have pending criminal charges against you, you may still seek a name change. However, you must first notify the prosecutor by sending a copy of the verified complaint and order fixing the date of hearing by certified mail to either the prosecutor of the county where the matter is pending, or to the director of criminal justice in Trenton if the charges were brought against you by the office of the New Jersey attorney general.
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Published on: October 21, 2013

Defamation on the Internet: Accommodating the Growth of Social Media

by Pauline M.K. Young

A person may be a victim of defamation when another person has said something false about her. Defamation is a generic term for libel (a defamatory statement that is written) and slander (a defamatory statement which is spoken). The statement cannot be a joke or an expression of opinion; it must be something that is capable of being proven true or false, and which is actually false. Further, the statement must actually be harmful to the victim’s reputation or have caused monetary losses. In most cases, the victim must be able to identify and quantify her actual damages, hurt feelings are often insufficient.

In order to be considered defamation, one person or entity must make false factual statements about another and communicate (or “publish”) those statements to a third party. The statement cannot be a joke or an expression of opinion; it must be something that is capable of being proven true or false, and it must actually be false. When the statement involves public figures or issues of public concern – such as with political candidates – in order to protect the open debate and discussion regarding these public figures, there must also be some malicious intent and affirmative knowledge that the statement is false.
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