Green Savits Employment Law Blog

The gradual reopening of society during the COVID-19 pandemic presents certain challenges for employers and employees to navigate. One of these involves the decision to bring employees back into the office rather than allow them to continue working remotely. Employers must be extremely diligent in following all state mandated health guidelines when bringing employees back to the office. Employees need to understand that they have rights in the event that they are terminated or retaliated against in any way for filing a whistleblower complaint about the safety of their work environment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many doctors and nurses throughout New Jersey have been forced to perform their duties in unsafe working environments. Not only do these front-line workers face increased risk for exposure to the novel coronavirus, they also fear losing their jobs for voicing concerns over equipment shortages and other safety issues.

In a recent New York Times article, Theresa Brown, a nurse, writer, and clinical faculty member at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, describes the challenges of publicly advocating for safer working conditions when many hospitals have instituted gag orders. In this...

A work environment free of discrimination and harassment is guaranteed by law. While we’ve come a long way towards achieving this goal in recent years, workplace discrimination still exists. For many men and women experiencing this mistreatment, it can lead to a feeling of powerlessness and an unpleasant working environment.

Individuals often experience workplace discrimination on the basis of:

It’s important to understand that discrimination based on these factors is illegal. If...

Whistleblower protection laws forbid employers from firing, demoting, or otherwise punishing an employee for disclosing or refusing to participate in illegal conduct. Without these laws, employees would have little ability to object to business activities they believe are illegal or dangerous. Whistleblower protection laws are essential to the functioning of our democracy.

However, even though these laws exist, blowing the whistle can be an incredibly scary experience. Even if you are confident that you are right, and that you would win a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit, potentially suffering consequences for listening to your...