A New Jersey appeals court recently ruled that a volunteer firefighter was not an “employee” of the volunteer fire company from which he was expelled, rejecting his whistleblower claim and strictly interpreting the state’s...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: New Jersey’s Appellate Division upheld summary judgment dismissing a claim of whistleblower retaliation under the Conscientious Employee Protection Act (“CEPA”), finding that plaintiff, an unpaid volunteer...more
Lately, we’ve been seeing more cases in which public-sector employees accuse their governmental employer of violating the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Such claims can arise in many ways, but with the...more
On May 11, 2017, a federal jury in Charlotte, North Carolina awarded a former fire department employee, Crystal Eschert, a $1.5 million verdict in a retaliatory discharge lawsuit that teaches powerful lessons in today’s...more
On Oct. 27, 2015, the new NYC Fair Chance Act ( “FCA”), recently signed into law by Mayor Bill de Blasio, takes effect. The FCA prohibits most New York City employers from making inquiries into an applicant’s criminal...more
This phrase, popularized by Mark Twain -- who attributed it to a British Prime Minister -- can be used to describe both the positive and negative power of numbers to illustrate a point. Recently, it gained new meaning in the...more