New Jersey Injury Attorney Blog

A New Jersey company has agreed to pay $325,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit involving allegations that Closter’s top administrator exposed female employees to pornography. According to this news report, the settlement took place December 5, 2008 between the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and defendants AmerTac Holding and American Tack & Hardware required the companies to provide anti-discrimination training and information to employees in addition to the payout.

The New Jersey sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the commission five years ago on behalf of 13 women claimed that John Di Stefano exposed them to pornographic images on his computers on a daily basis while calling them derogatory names. Di Stefano was the vice president of information technology at the company between 2001 and 2002.

In this case, the company official’s unwanted sexual behavior or sexual references created a hostile working environment for those women, who were obviously embarrassed and humiliated by his behavior. Sexual harassment in the workplace can come in different forms – verbal, nonverbal or physical harassment.

It is the employer’s responsibility to keep employees safe and maintain a healthy environment for them. If you have been a victim of sexual harassment in New Jersey and believe that your employer has done nothing to protect you from such harassment, you need to seek legal advice from an experienced New Jersey sexual harassment victim attorney. Please call Lependorf & Silverstein for a free consultation today.

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Whether you support Barack Obama or Sarah Palin, (who’s her running mate again?), or even if you are truly undecided on the candidates, I think we can all agree on one thing about this Presidential Election: if nothing else, it sure provokes discussion. More often than not, the discussion turns to race and gender. Can a black man be elected President? Can a hockey mom run the free world? To say the least, these can be touchy subjects.

But when does someone’s “offensive” opinions become workplace harassment? Certainly, the First Amendment protects speech, including controversial beliefs. But on the other hand, not all speech is protected, especially in the workplace. Employers and employees alike should know where the line is drawn.

The short answer is this. Yes, a single harsh comment or slur can technically be “severe” enough to support a lawsuit. Realistically speaking, however, offensive speech becomes harassment when it is part of a larger, “pervasive” pattern of hostility and has a negative effect on the target’s job performance or prospects for career advancement.

Continue reading "When Workplace Debate Becomes Workplace Harassment" »

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A New Jersey Appellate Panel recently confirmed that a single, homophobic slur uttered by a supervisor is a sufficient basis for an employee’s lawsuit that is based on a hostile work environment due to sexual harassment at work.

In this case, the plaintiff alleged, among other things, that his immediate supervisor called him a “stupid fag.” A short time later, he was terminated under a false pretext that his performance was subpar.

The trial court dismissed the lawsuit at summary judgment. Citing Taylor v. Metzger, 152 N.J. 490 (1998), the plaintiff had (correctly) argued that a single instance of harassment or discrimination can create a “hostile work environment” under the law. However, the trial judge noted that no other witness heard the slur, and there was no evidence that the supervisor knew the victim was gay, nor was his orientation well known throughout the company. Thus, the trial judge found that the comment was not so “severe or pervasive” as to constitute a hostile work environment.

Continue reading "Hostile Work Environment Claim Supported by Single Anti-Gay Slur" »

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