On July 6, 2021, we released a blog post on Texas’ new sexual harassment laws, which became effective September 1, 2021. These laws expand liability for sexual harassment to companies with at least one employee and to individual supervisors and coworkers. Our July 6 post discusses the details of the new laws; now that
Statute of limitations
Reminder to New Jersey Employers: Shortening the Law Against Discrimination’s Statute of Limitations is Prohibited
By Stephanie Wilson on
Dana E. Feinstein, Reed Smith Summer Associate, contributed to this blog post.
Employers in New Jersey should be aware that a recent New Jersey Supreme Court decision invalidated a contractual provision that shortened the statute of limitations for bringing a claim for discrimination under the Law Against Discrimination (“LAD”). On June 15, 2016, the New Jersey Supreme Court overturned the lower court’s decision and held that employers cannot impose a contractual limit on the two-year time period allotted to an employee to file a claim of employment discrimination under LAD. See Rodriguez v. Raymours Furniture Co., 2016 N.J. LEXIS 566 (June 15, 2016).
Sergio Rodriguez, a non-native English speaker from Argentina, signed an employment application when applying for a job at Raymour & Flanigan Furniture Stores. The application stated in bold and capitalized letters that the undersigned agreed “that any claim or lawsuit relating to [his] service with Raymour & Flanigan must be filed no more than six (6) months after the date of the employment action that is the subject of the claim or lawsuit” and that he would waive any conflicting statute of limitations. This contractual six-month limit was far shorter than LAD’s two-year statute of limitations.…
California Courts Address Employment Arbitration Agreements
By John H. Lien on
Recent opinions by the California Courts of Appeal should encourage employers to review and assess the enforceability of their arbitration and related employment agreements.
Court Refuses to Enforce Agreement to Shorten Limitations Period on Wage and Hour Claims
In Pellegrino v. Robert Half International, the Court of Appeal found that an agreement to shorten…
President Obama Signs Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, Placing New Burdens on Employers
By Erin Bailey on
Acting swiftly on one of his campaign promises, President Obama today signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (S. 181). The new law will increase the number of pay discrimination claims, make them much more difficult to defend, and force employers to retain records relating to compensation decisions far longer than they have in the past. In…
U.S. House Passes Pay Discrimination Legislation Supported by Obama; Senate Poised to Act
By Erin Bailey on
Just a few days after starting its new session, Congress has moved to substantially expand employees’ rights and remedies in pay discrimination cases. On Jan. 9, 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (H.R. 11) and the Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 12), largely along party lines, and then combined them into a single piece of legislation (H.R. 11). Identical bills have been introduced in the Senate, and a vote there is expected later this month. Taken together, the bills would make it easier for plaintiffs to establish pay discrimination, significantly expand the number and size of class actions in such cases, and expose employers to unlimited compensatory and punitive damages even if they never intended to discriminate. President-elect Obama supports the legislation.…