Is Speech in the Workplace Protected, or is it Harassment?
On December 19, 2017, the Supreme Court of New Jersey, in State v. W.B., (A-6-16) (077623), redefined the limits of the State’s harassment statute, N.J.S.A. 2C:33-4(c), when it concluded that the statute was vague, broadly worded, and did not place a “reasonable person on sufficient notice” of the kinds of speech that it proscribed. More specifically, in W.B., Defendant W.B., a corrections officer, altered photographs of a fellow corrections office and his wife – with the inc
Legal Developments Pertaining to Breastfeeding in the Workplace
On January 8, 2018, New Jersey P.L. 2017, c. 263 was signed into law. This law expands certain civil rights protections under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination to include breastfeeding and expressing milk or related medical conditions. This law has implications for women who need to breastfeed or express milk while in the workplace. Under the law, a woman cannot be fired or otherwise discriminated against by her employer because of breastfeeding or expressing her mil