New Jersey Employment Law & Litigation Attorneys

Smith Eibeler, LLC

86 Washington Avenue
Milltown, New Jersey 08850
USA

(732) 545-2600

www.JerseyEmploymentLawyers.com

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Law Firm Overview

Smith Eibeler, LLC fights for New Jersey employees’ right to work in a discrimination free workplace. Our experienced employment attorneys represent employees and employers in all areas of employment law, including unlawful termination, sexual harassment, FMLA rights, New Jersey Family and Medical Leave Act, hostile work environment, reasonable accommodations, sexual orientation discrimination, race discrimination, age discrimination, unemployment benefits law and whistle-blower retaliation.

We also provide employment law related consultation services, including representing clients in unemployment appeals, contract review, severance agreements, non-compete/non-solicitation agreements and employee complaint and harassment investigations. In addition to our employment law practice, we also provide commercial litigation services on behalf of businesses in matters such as shareholder disputes, breach of contract, fraudulent business practices, restrictive covenant, non-compete and non-solicitation agreements.

We strive to provide our clients with personal attention and a hands-on approach throughout the litigation process. Our clients always receive an honest and realistic assessment of potential options for the best and most cost-effective resolution. We believe in educating our clients about their case so they have the knowledge necessary to make truly informed decisions. We always provide personalized and attentive service to every case because we believe it is essential to achieve the best possible outcome.

Year this Office was Established: 2011

Practice Areas

Additional Practice Areas: Hostile Work Environment; Sexual Orientation Discrimination; Family and Medical Leave Act; New Jersey Family Leave Act; Disability Discrimination; Reasonable Accommodation; Pregnancy Discrimination; Restrictive Covenants; Unemployment Appeals; Breaches of Contracts; Service Contract Disputes; Fraud within Real Estate; Small Business and Corporations; Grievances.

Practice Areas Description

Smith Eibeler, LLC offers legal representation on the following areas employment law:

- Hostile Work Environment

An employer who has knowledge or should have knowledge of the existence of a hostile work environment is obligated to remediate and stop the harassment. The harassment must be based upon a protected trait such as sex, sexual orientation, disability, race or national origin. When an employer fails to take effective measures to stop the illegal harassment that it knows or should know of, New Jersey law considers that the employer has joined the harasser in making the working environment hostile and sending the harassed employee the message that the harassment is acceptable. In enacting the New Jersey Law against Discrimination our legislature intended to eradicate the cancer of discrimination for workplaces in New Jersey.

- Sexual Orientation Discrimination

State and federal laws make it illegal to discriminate against an employee on the basis of his or her sexual orientation. Some employers seem to think that this law does not apply to them, and they openly taunt or otherwise discriminate against gay, lesbian, bi-sexual or transgender (GLBT) employees. If your civil rights were violated, we are here to hold employers accountable for their wrongdoing. Our law practice protects the rights of employees in the workplace. Our lawyers are committed to ensuring that people across New Jersey are free from sexual orientation discrimination on the job. We represent clients in a wide range of positions and in a wide range of industries. Our clients include members of civil unions and single persons alike.

- Family and Medical Leave Act

Whether you are in need of a leave of absence to seek medical care or recover from a serious medical condition, to care for a newborn baby, or care for a chronically ill loved one, you may have a right to take up to twelve (12) weeks of unpaid leave off from work under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). If you have been discriminated against because you asked for the time off or if you have been wrongfully terminated for taking deserved time off, you may have a legal claim against your employer. We can protect your rights to take a much-needed leave of absence from work without penalty. Our employment law attorneys know how hard it is to face uncertainty and hostility in the workplace while dealing with a serious medical condition. Our firm offers our clients the support, knowledge and communication they need and deserve.

- New Jersey Family Leave Act

The New Jersey Family Leave Act also prohibits employers from interfering or retaliating against an employee for exercising their New Jersey Family Leave Act rights. If you have been terminated or subject to disciplinary actions because you have “too many absences” for needing to take time off to care a loved one who is suffering from a serious health condition, you may have a legal claim against your employer. We can protect your rights to take a much-needed leave of absence from work without penalty or assist you in determining whether the denial of your request of leave or your termination of employment is unlawful.

- Disability Discrimination

Our employment law firm represents clients who have been discriminated or retaliated against, subjected to a hostile work environment or wrongfully terminated for requesting a reasonable accommodation for a mental disability, physical disability or other disability. We have also helped clients who have been told that if they exercise their right to take leave under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or New Jersey Family Leave Act (or are ordered by medical providers to go on bed rest), they will be replaced. Our disability discrimination lawyers get involved in employment law concerns at any point in the process of addressing an employment law concern. In some cases, an employee needs education about reasonable accommodations, classes of persons protected from discrimination and other workplace issues.

- Reasonable Accommodation

Employees with a physical or mental disability may sometimes need special accommodations in order to perform the essential functions of their job. For example, an employee confined to a wheelchair may need modifications to be made to their work space; someone battling severe depression may need a temporary leave of absence to seek treatment; a worker with arthritis may need a special orthopedic chair to relieve pain. So long as the request for an accommodation is reasonable, New Jersey and federal laws require employers to grant it. If the accommodation does not put undue strain on the employer (whether financially or logistically), the employer must honor the employee's request and provide the reasonable accommodation. The failure of an employer to accommodate reasonable a request of a disabled employee may be unlawful in certain circumstances and grounds for a discrimination claim.

- Pregnancy Discrimination

The New Jersey Law against Discrimination prohibits an employer from discriminating against an individual in terms, conditions or privileges of employment on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth or sex. An employer who refuses to continue the employment of a woman because of a pregnancy, delivery of a child or complications that arise from a pregnancy is liable for sex or gender discrimination under the New Jersey Law against Discrimination. A pregnant woman is entitled to the same rights and disability leave as employees disabled for other reasons. An employer may not discriminate against a pregnant employee by not allowing her to use accumulated sick leave during the period of temporary disability when it can be used for any other period of absence due to physical disability.

- Restrictive Covenants

If you are facing a legal concern or challenge relating to a restrictive covenant, we can assess your situation and assist in protecting your rights. We assist both employees and employers in connection with the reviewing, negotiating and enforcement of employment contracts. For employers, we help them draft contracts that are enforceable and will stand up to scrutiny and protect your businesses trade secrets, intellectual property and other confidential information. Our lawyers have significant experience in litigating employment law matters. We have been successful in litigating restrictive covenant litigation throughout New Jersey and in New York State as well. We have been successful in obtaining temporary restraints and defeating attempts to restrain workers who have reasonable restrictive covenants and have breached them. We can help you negotiate a solution. If the other side is not willing to come to the negotiating table, we will meticulously prepare a compelling case for the courtroom.

- Whistleblower Retaliation

If your employer terminated, demoted, harassed or otherwise retaliated against you as a result of your objections to illegal conduct, we may be able to pursue a claim for the damages caused, including lost wages for the past and the future. Often times when an employee does the right thing by reporting illegal conduct of their employer, they are subjected to adverse employment action, up to and including, the termination of their employment. Under New Jersey state law, an employee is protected from retaliation from complaining or objecting to an activity, practice or policy of their employer that the employee reasonably believes is illegal. Smith Eibeler has successfully represented workers who have been retaliated against or wrongfully terminated after opposing or reporting their company's illegal actions. If you suffered retaliation for reporting what you reasonably believed to be your employer's unlawful actions, we are here to help.

- Unemployment Appeals

The New Jersey Unemployment Appeal Center was created to help guide those New Jersey citizens who have lost their jobs through the unemployment benefits process. New Jersey unemployment compensation provide employees who lose their job due to no fault of their own with a form of compensation while they remain unemployed and continue looking for new work. The legislative purpose of New Jersey Unemployment Compensation law is to lighten the burden of unemployment which now so often falls with crushing force upon the unemployed worker and family. In enacting the New Jersey Unemployment Compensation Law, our legislature declared that economic insecurity due to unemployment is a serious menace to the health, morals, and welfare of the people of New Jersey.

- Commercial Litigation

We help our clients define their goals by providing them with realistic expectations about potential outcomes. We believe in educating our clients about the legal process, giving them the knowledge necessary to make truly informed decisions. Essentially, we lift the legal burden off of our clients' shoulders so that they can focus their energy on running their business. Matters that we have resolved include: Shareholder disputes; Breaches of contracts; Service contract disputes; Fraud within real estate, small business and corporations; Grievances and arbitration in employment disputes and employee-related litigation; Restrictive covenant disputes; Litigation services, including whistle-blower litigation, and personal injury claims.