HR Specialist: New Jersey Employment Law

New Jersey’s complicated laws make it extra dicey for employers. Aggressive attorneys don’t stop with federal laws like FMLA, ADA and FLSA: they use state and local living-wage statutes, rural codes, plus discrimination and other laws to sue employers for sky’s-the-limit damages. This New Jersey-specific newsletter arrives monthly to help sue-proof every aspect of HR. Written in plain English, it’s your insurance policy for staying in step with current interpretations of state and local laws – and staying out of court. Learn more about HR Specialist: New Jersey Employment Law and the free report you’ll get when you subscribe...

New Jersey employers can't interfere with employees or customers who breast-feed their children in public, as Tiffany and Co. learned the hard way.

A Superior Court judge says the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD) can be construed to permit women to breast-feed in public areas. As a result, the court said, a young mother can sue Tiffany's over an incident at its Short Hills Mall store in Essex County.

The case: Rosa Almond was breast-feeding her child when a male Tiffany employee allegedly said, "You can't do this. You can't be here ... You can go to the bathroom and do that." The man stormed off, and Almond broke into tears and left the store.

She filed suit, alleging she suffered emotional pain and suffering, plus discrimination based on sex. The judge dismissed the pain and suffering counts but allowed the bias case to go forward.

Note: State law protects a woman's right to breast-feed in public, although the NJLAD doesn't specifically address it.