Our Cases
Our Employment Law Cases The employment law attorneys at Rabner Baumgart Ben-Asher & Nirenberg, P.C. have experience representing employees in a wide range of discrimination, retaliation, hostile work environment harassment and other workplace claims. Below are some examples of employment law cases we have handled.
Below, you can read some examples of representative employment law cases we have handled. In addition, you can visit our significant cases page, which discussed many of our cases that have set important legal precedents and otherwise helped to improve the rights for employees working in New Jersey.
Representative Cases
- Breach of Employment Contract and Fraud: We represented an individual who was hired by a small company as its Director of Sales. The company promised the employee a one year employment contract when he was offered the position. Our client quit another job based on that promise. However, the owner of the business refused to sign his employment contract, and then fired him within six months after he started working for the company. He was seeking damages for breach of contract and employment fraud against both the company and its owner.
- Disability Discrimination: We were the lawyers for a salesperson who had been employed by a large international telecommunications company for more than 20 years. The company suddenly started criticizing his job performance when he returned to work after a disability leave for cancer treatments. The company then placed him on a performance improvement plan that set unrealistic sales targets. When our client met those requirements, the employer set even higher sales targets, and fired him when he failed to meet them. We were able to settle his disability discrimination case through mediation.
- Harassment and Retaliation: We represented a female police officer who experienced severe harassment and retaliation at work due to her gender and sexual orientation, and in retaliation for her objecting to the ongoing harassment. After convincing the court to reinstate our client with over $300,000 in back pay, we were able to settle her case for $2.25 million.
- Non-Compete Agreements: One of our clients was sued for allegedly violating his non-compete agreement by a major pharmaceutical company. After successfully defeating the company's attempt to obtain a preliminary injunction, we were able to amicably resolve his case in a way that permitted him to continue to keep his new job. Another one of our clients was sued for supposedly violating the non-compete and non-solicitation agreements in his employment contract. We were able to get the claims against him dismissed.
- Oppressed Minority Shareholder: We represented a shareholder in a closely held corporation who was forced out of the company and fired, but was not paid anything for the value of his shares in the company. We brought a lawsuit on his behalf under the New Jersey Oppressed Shareholder statute. We were able to negotiate a settlement to compensate our client for the value of his stock.
- Race Discrimination: We resolved a claim on behalf of our client, an African-American employee who worked in a New York State office for a large telecommunications company for approximately 20 years before he was demoted as part of a reduction-in-force. The company disproportionately selected African-American and black employees for demotion, and eventually filled those positions by hiring and promoting mostly white employees. The company eventually fired him right before he was scheduled to testify in support of another African-American employee who alleged race discrimination.
- Retaliation: We filed a retaliation and civil rights lawsuit on behalf of a Police Sergeant who worked for a city in Northern New Jersey. During his career, the Sergeant objected to numerous policies and practices of the police department that he believed were fraudulent and illegal, and spoke out about other matters of public concern. Unfortunately, he experienced harassment and retaliation such as the city transferring him to undesirable shifts and assignments, prohibiting him from working overtime and disciplining him for no good reason. Eventually, the police department skipped him for a promotion to Lieutenant. We were able to resolve his case with our client receiving a promotion to Lieutenant with back pay and seniority, as well as compensation for the emotional distress he experienced.
- Severance Agreements: Our employment lawyers have reviewed countless severance agreements for our clients to determine whether there are opportunities to increase the amount of severance they were offered, and help them decide whether they should accept or reject the offer.
- Sexual Harassment: One of our clients was a woman who complained to her company's management after she learned that a male supervisor had severely sexually harassed another female employee. Our client also testified against the company at a deposition in another case relating to the same sexual harassment. The company retaliated against her and eventually gave her the choice of either working in a location that would have required her to commute a very long distance every day, or losing her job. We were able to resolve this New Jersey employment law matter shortly after we filed suit.
- Wage and Hour Violations: We have represented employees in multiple group and class action lawsuits regarding failure to pay overtime. For example, we have brought overtime lawsuits on behalf of employees who worked for a large national bank with a branch in Morris County, New Jersey; a national realtor doing business in Northern New Jersey; a New Jersey subsidiary of a national insurance company; a well-known television service provider; and a bar and restaurant in New York City. Each of those cases alleged that the company had improperly designated a group of employees as exempt from time-and-a-half when they worked more than 40 hours per week.
- Whistleblower Claims: We represented an executive who worked for a major telecommunications company in Central New Jersey. The employee sued the company for retaliation under New Jersey's Conscientious Employee Protection Act ("CEPA") after he blew the whistle regarding the company's violations of Securities Exchange Commission rules, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2000 ("SOX") and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP"). We were able to resolve his case with a substantial settlement.
Client Reviews
★★★★★
"I worked with Jonathan Nirenberg, ESQ on a sensitive emotional employment matter. Mr. Nirenberg was quick to respond, offered excellent advice, and always followed up with phone calls or emails when needed. My situation was settled out of court within a short period of time with the best possible results for not just me but also for the employer. Highly recommend and would seek his help again if needed..." Linda Busch, PhD
★★★★★
"We've had the pleasure of working with Jonathan on multiple individual and class employment cases. Jonathan is a skilled, dedicated and caring attorney that works diligently to bring justice for his clients. We would recommend Jonathan as a legal resource for any employment cases." Stephan Zouras, LLP
★★★★★
"I felt alone and without a voice, until I hired Jonathan I. Nirenberg of Rabner Baumgart Ben-Asher & Nirenberg, P.C. Mr. Nirenberg represented me in an employment matter. Without his help, I know that I would not have had the extremely successful outcome I had. Jonathan was not only professional, but very empathetic to what happened to me. Jonathan gave me support, and options in relation to a challenging employer/employment situation which was an extremely difficult time in my life..." Shelly Smith