Morristown, NJ
Employment and labor Lawyer at Morristown, NJ
Practice Areas: Employment & Labor, Discrimination ... +2 more
OUTCOME: Court adopted a multi-prong test similar to that proposed by Ms. Reis in her amicus submission.
Ms. Reis entered an appearance as amicus curiae (friend of the Court) in favor of plaintiff's position that plaintiff's copying documents that support her gender discrimination case and providing those ... copies solely to her attorney for purposes of assisting in the prosecution of her lawsuit may constitute protected conduct.
OUTCOME:
Ms. Reis participated in the submission of an amicus brief on behalf of NELA-NJ in this Supreme Court of New Jersey case wherein the Court held that off-color jokes about one's religion will be tested ... by the same standards as those for hostile work environment claims brought on the basis of race and/or gender. Essentially, this case overruled the Heitzman v. Monmouth County, 321 N.J. Super. 133 (1999) case in which the Appellate Division suggested that hostile work environment claims on the basis of religion are tested by a more stringent standard than other hostile work environment cases.
OUTCOME: Jury Verdict Award plus Attorneys' Fees
Ms. Reis tried this race discrimination and retaliation case to a favorable verdict on behalf of her client.
OUTCOME: Total award of $2,285,650.48
On February 24 and 25, 2009, after a month-long trial, a jury sitting in the Superior Court of New Jersey for Essex County in Newark unanimously found that New Jersey Transit Police Lieutenant Theresa ... Frizalone was denied four separate promotions to Captain in retaliation for her complaints of gender discrimination. The jury awarded $339,000 in compensatory damages for lost pension and retiree medical benefits, $210,000 in compensatory damages for emotional distress, and $1,000,000 in punitive damages against New Jersey Transit, for a total of $1,549,000 in damages. With a post-trial award of attorneys’ fees and prejudgment interest, the total award was $2,285,650.48.
OUTCOME: Supreme Court reinstated jury verdict
On December 2, 2010, the Supreme Court of New Jersey reversed an Appellate Division decision and re-instated a more than $9.1 million dollar verdict in favor of a Human Resources Director who sued her ... former employer for gender discrimination and retaliation. Claudia Reis submitted an amicus (friend of the court) brief on behalf of the National Employment Lawyers Association of New Jersey. The position advocated in the brief was that the Court adopt a balancing test to determine when employees are entitled to legal protections for providing confidential company documents to their attorneys in connection with discrimination, harassment or retaliation claims. While the parties and the other organizations appearing as amicus proposed bright-line rules, the Supreme Court of New Jersey adopted a balancing test that incorporated the factors suggested by the Green, Savits & Lenzo attorneys in the amicus brief. This decision is an important one for employees across the State of New Jersey because it makes clear that employees do not necessarily lose the protections under the Law Against Discrimination for sharing certain confidential company information with their attorneys.