Employment Discrimination

Discrimination at work is not only unfair and immoral, but it also is illegal. Under New Jersey law it is a violation of your employment law rights if your company fired, demoted, harassed, disciplined, or underpaid you, or took another adverse employment action against you, because you are a member of a legally protected group.

The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination ("LAD") prohibits many different forms of discrimination and harassment. Specifically, as our New Jersey discrimination lawyers can explain, it prohibits employers from treating you worse based of your membership in any of the following protected categories:

• Age: It is unlawful to discriminate against an employee based on his or her age, including making decisions based on stereotypes or assumptions about older workers.

• Ancestry: It violates the law to discriminate against you based on your ancestry, meaning your family or ethnic descent.
  

• Color: It is a violation of the law to discriminate against an employee based on the color of his or her skin.

• Disability: As long as an employee can perform the essential functions of his job, an employer cannot treat them less favorably because (1) they have a physical or mental disability, (2) they previously had a disability, or (3) someone mistakenly believes or perceives they are disabled. In addition, disabled employees are entitled to a reasonable accommodation that would permit them to perform the essential functions of their jobs.

• Gender and Sex: It violates an employee's right to be free from discrimination in employment in New Jersey when an employer treats an employee less favorably because she is a woman. Although it happens less frequently, it also is unlawful to treat a worker worse because he is a man.

• Marital Status: New Jersey law prohibits companies from making decisions based on the fact that an employee is married, single, divorced or widowed.

• National Origin: The law prohibits employers from treating employees less favorably based on the countries in which they were born.

• Pregnancy: It is a violation of the law to treat a woman less favorably because she is pregnant or because she recently gave birth, or because she is nursing or breastfeeding. In addition, pregnant women are also entitled to reasonable accommodations for pregnancy.

• Race: Employers are legally prohibited from treating employees differently on the basis of their racial or ethnic backgrounds.

• Religion: Employers cannot discriminate based on an employee’s creed, meaning their religious beliefs and practices, and must provide a reasonable accommodation for an employee’s religious beliefs.

• Sexual Orientation: You may have a legal claim if you have been treated negatively because of your affectional or sexual orientation or gender identity, including harassment or discrimination because you are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual or transgender.

• Veteran and Military Status Discrimination: The law prohibits workplace discrimination based on the fact that you are a current or former member of the armed forces.

• Victims of Domestic Violence or Sexual Abuse: It is unlawful to discriminate against someone because they took time off from work because they, or their immediate family member, was a victim of domestic violence of sexual abuse.

If you have been wrongfully fired, constructively discharged, demoted, suspended, paid less, or otherwise treated less favorably because you belong to one of those legally protected categories in New York or New Jersey, then Rabner Baumgart Ben-Asher & Nirenberg, P.C. can help.

In addition to successfully representing employees in a wide variety of employment law cases, our discrimination attorneys have helped improve the law for employees through numerous significant legal victories in the Appellate Division and the New Jersey Supreme Court.

We welcome you to contact us to schedule an appointment with an experienced employment lawyer to learn more about your workplace rights. Our telephone number is (201) 777-2250.

For more information, please see our Frequently Asked Questions About New Jersey Employment Discrimination law.