For several years, Massachusetts has tried—and failed—to pass restrictions on non-compete covenants, and this year is no exception. Massachusetts’ 2017-18 legislative session includes seven bills focusing on reforming...more
Rejecting Freehold Township’s claim the entire case was barred by the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA), a workers’ compensation judge ruled the municipality must reimburse its employee for the cost of medical marijuana...more
7/17/2018
/ Aiding and Abetting ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Medical Reimbursement ,
Municipalities ,
State and Local Government ,
Workers' Compensation Claim
When drafting restrictive covenants, employers face a common dilemma about the scope of activities to be restrained. On the one hand, highly focused non-compete language tends to be more enforceable but might not protect the...more
One of Governor Phil Murphy’s top priorities in his new administration is the decriminalization of marijuana in New Jersey. The proposed bill most likely to become law this year comes as employers are just getting comfortable...more
On January 4, 2018—just days after California began selling recreational marijuana and became poised to become the largest legal market for the drug in the U.S.—the Department of Justice changed tactics on marijuana...more
A cornerstone of Governor-elect Phil Murphy’s campaign platform was the decriminalization of marijuana in New Jersey. The proposed bill most likely to become law with the new administration comes as employers are just getting...more
An employer hiring an individual known to be subject to a non-compete contract can expect to be accused of tortiously interfering with that contract. On the other hand, the hiring employer should be innocent of wrongdoing if...more
Having just celebrated its one-year anniversary, the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) triggered an uptick in federal litigation concerning the fight to protect corporate trade secrets. Though no court has issued the elusive ex...more
5/31/2017
/ Confidential Information ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) ,
Email ,
Google ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Misappropriation ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Record Preservation ,
Trade Secrets ,
Unauthorized Access ,
Work Computer
A company that terminates an employee — even if it offers the employee the chance to apply for a position with the company’s successor — cannot enforce restrictive covenants over that employee, a New York appeals court...more
New Jersey has taken the first step toward becoming a global center of international arbitration by enacting the International Arbitration, Mediation, and Conciliation Act (the “Act”) on February 6, 2017. The Act provides the...more
The City of Philadelphia amended its Fair Practices Ordinance (Ordinance) on January 23, 2017, to prohibit employers from inquiring about an applicant’s wage history during the hiring process. The law is the first of its kind...more
Executive Summary: Just when employers thought New Jersey's Supreme Court could not expand the state's whistleblower law further (as we reported last summer), the Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA) once again has...more
8/18/2016
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
CEPA ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA) ,
NLRA ,
Preemption ,
Protected Activity ,
Retaliation ,
Section 7 ,
Summary Judgment ,
Termination ,
Unions ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
President Obama has signed the Defend Trade Secrets Law of 2016 into law, effective May 11, 2016. As discussed in detail in our April 28, 2016 Legal Alert, the law provides a new, uniform federal civil remedy to trade secret...more
Until now, employers with trade secrets stolen by former employees had to rely upon uneven, hit-or-miss state laws to protect their intellectual property and confidential information. Enter the Defend Trade Secrets Law of...more
As we previously forecast and employers feared, New Jersey's Supreme Court has dramatically expanded the state's whistleblower law, the Conscientious Employee Protection Act or "CEPA." In doing so, the Court held that...more
On the heels of an appellate decision providing employees a virtual how-to manual to misuse and exploit confidential employer documents and safely provide them to a competitor, New Jersey's Supreme Court reversed course last...more
7/9/2015
/ Appeals ,
Confidential Documents ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Discovery ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Misappropriation ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
NJ Supreme Court ,
Theft ,
Trade Secrets ,
Willful Misconduct
Like the hit show "How to Get Away with Murder," the recent New Jersey ruling in Spencer Sav. Bank SLA v. McGrover (App. Div. March 5, 2015), instructs employees looking to remove their employers' confidential documents and...more
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently broadened California's already expansive interest in promoting employee mobility by voiding any contract provision imposing a meaningful obstacle to a California resident's ability...more
The right to enforce a covenant not to compete may be lost when the employer first violates the terms of the same agreement, says a New York appeals court. In Fewer v. GFI Grp. Inc. et al., 124 A.D.3d 457, 2015 WL 176227...more
On February 11, 2015, New Jersey's Supreme Court formally decided an important issue left open for nearly two decades concerning New Jersey's Law Against Discrimination (LAD). In Aguas v. State of New Jersey, __ N.J. __, No....more