Gender Identity & Sexual Orientation Discrimination At Work In New Jersey

Have you ever been overlooked for a promotion at work only to find a person with a different gender identity, with less experience than you, gets offered the position instead? Do you believe that you are not advancing at work due to your sexual orientation? If you answered “yes” to either of those questions, you may be a victim of unlawful gender identity and/or sexual orientation discrimination.

Christopher Deininger has a caring, professional approach to these cases in which he works with you to gather and preserve the important evidence, and analyze it for purposes of protecting your rights and interests. This is critical and only an experienced discrimination attorney like Chris can properly steer you through this complex area of law. Whether you decide to retain our law firm or not, you owe it to yourself to understand whether or not you have a case. For a free contact Mr. Deininger to arrange a meeting, by calling 973-879-1610.

Unlawful gender and sexual orientation discrimination continues to be a major issue in the workplace even with stringent laws in place such as the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD), which prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy, gender identity or expression, or marital, civil union, or domestic partnership status (NJ Rev. Stat. Sec. 10:5-12).

Examples of Sex Discrimination include:

• You are treated differently or unfairly because of your gender whether you are a man or woman or because you are denied a job, promotion, equal pay or other job benefits.
• You are subjected to an unwarranted sexually hostile environment in the workplace.
• You are treated differently or unfairly because you are pregnant.
• Sexual favors are demanded in exchange for a job benefit, like a promotion.

Sexual Harassment In The Workplace

The average person spends 5 days (36-40 hours) out of the week at work, often spending more time at work than the person spends at home. Under the law, people are entitled to a workplace free of improper treatment due to unlawful discrimination. Are you, your wife, girl friend, daughter or even your son, being subjected to inappropriate workplace behavior concerning sex? It does not have to be that someone is touching you or a loved one. Displaying pornography on a computer, putting inappropriate pictures on your desk, giving you a “sex toy” as a “joke” gift, twitting you, emailing you, snap chatting you … all of those types of contact can be equally unlawful in a sexual harassment case.

You do not have to suffer through it, even if other victims have done that in the past. No one has the right to make sexual advances toward you after you have told the person, in no uncertain terms, “no thanks,” “I’m not interested,” “I am already in a relationship,” or similar words.

The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) prohibits sexual harassment in the workplace. Sexual harassment can include but is not limited to one of the following situations:

• Suggestive behavior
• Sexual staring or leering
• Sexual jokes
• Requests for sexual relations
• Sexual propositions such as asking you out or continuously calling you
• Sexual comments, insults or teasing
• Sexually offensive gestures
• Intrusive questions about sexual activity
• Sexually explicit or offensive material that is displayed in a public place or put in your work area or belongings

The law in New Jersey states that your employer may not sexually harass you or any employees in the workplace. The law also says that your employer must make sure that there is no sexual harassment taking place at all in the workplace and if there are instances of harassment that arise, they must be dealt with. This applies regardless of whether you are a permanent, full-time, part-time or casual employee.

Types of Sexual Harassment in NJ

Hostile-work Environment Sexual Harassment:

Hostile work environment sexual harassment occurs when an employee is subject to unwelcome sexual advances or behavior from a supervisor or coworker. This conduct creates an unlawful, hostile work environment when it is severe enough to make a person believe that their conditions of employment have been altered and that their working environment has become hostile or abusive as a result. Any type of unwanted sexual harassment that interferes with an employee’s workplace is unlawful.

Quid Pro Quo Sexual Harassment:

Quid Pro Quo Sexual Harassment occurs when an employer, manager, or supervisor places terms and conditions of an employee’s employment on the return of sexual favors. The typical scenario in this type of case can involve promising an individual a job, raise, promotion, or continued employment if they agree to engage in a sexual relationship.
Examples of Quid Pro Quo Sexual Harassment can include:

• Requiring sexual favors in exchange for hiring, a promotion, or a raise.
• Disciplining, demoting or firing an employee because he or she ends a consensual relationship.
• Changing work assignments because an employee refuses invitations to go on a date or other private, social gatherings.

Third Party Sexual Harassment:

Third-party sexual harassment happens when the harassment is committed by an outsider that is not an employer or coworker. Perpetrators of this type of harassment can include: vendors, customers, independent contractors and employees or contractors from an outside company such as security, maintenance and repair personnel who regularly come on company property.

What To Do If You Are Sexually Harassed At Work In New Jersey

If you feel you may be a victim of sexual harassment in the workplace the law is on your side. Christopher Deininger has over 30 years of experience in New Jersey Employment Law and will help you fight your case. We can often find the porn on the harasser’s work computer even after he or she has tried to “delete” it.

Contact us today for your FREE consultation.