Legal Question in Employment Law in New Jersey

Re: Is this allowed

You need to speak with an employment attorney right away. I can't advise as to New Jersey law since I am licensed in Pennsylvania, but I can speak to contracts and discrimination generally.

An employer has wide latitude to assign and reassign employees as it wishes. This varies from state to state and New Jersey may have laws that restrict the employer's ability to do so. Also, contracts and job descriptions may be enforceable to prevent such activity. No matter, even if the company is able to assign him a job as a route driver they cannot require him to use his own vehicle to do so. More than likely his vehicle is niether registered or insured for commercial use. Nor could a company require hime to obtain those registrations or insurance without a prior agreement.

As to the buyout/waiver. That really needs to be looked at by an attorney. While an employee is able to waive claims retroactively with such an agreement the law is absolutely clear that an employee may not and can not be asked to waive such claims prospectively. In other words, an employer is perfectly within its rights to say "we may have discriminated against you in the past, but sign this agreement, take this money and you can't sue us." An employer cannot turn that around and say "here's an agreement and some cash, we may violate your rights and discriminate against you in the future. If you sign the agreement and take the money you can't sue us." This would open a door that the law has firmly closed. Any employer would be able to subvert the law simply by getting an agreement beforehand that says you won't sue no matter what the employer does.

New Jersey law may have particular rules and views on employment law and, in fact, knowing how peculiar New Jersey is I can assure you that it does.

You need to find an employment lawyer who can help guide your husband through a claim. It is important to do this right away. There are very strict time periods and procedures in and through which an employee must raise claims of discrimination. Your lawyer may recommend you proceed immediately or may recommend you take a wait and see approach. You have a particularly odd situation. But, if and when you prevail, often attorney's fees are also awarded and the employer would end up paying for the attorney.

Good luck.

Regards,

Roger Traversa

email: [email protected]