Gibbons Law Alert

Gibbons Law Alert

Author: Gibbons P.C.

Plainfield Becomes 12th New Jersey Municipality to Approve Paid Sick Leave

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Posted in Policies and Handbooks

On March 29, 2016

On March 14, 2016, Plainfield became the 12th New Jersey municipality to approve paid sick leave. The Plainfield ordinance, which will take effect on July 14, 2016, requires that, with certain exceptions, employees working in Plainfield for at least 80 hours per year accrue at least one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked. Employers with ten or more paid employees must provide employees with up to 40 hours of paid sick time per calendar year, and employers with less than ten paid employees must provide sick time up to 24 hours, except for employees who are child care workers, home health care workers and food service workers who are entitled to up to 40 hours of paid sick time. Employees begin to accrue sick time on the first day of their employment and are entitled to begin using their accrued time on the 100th calendar day of their employment. Additionally, employees are permitted to carry over up to 40 hours of paid sick leave to the next calendar year, but employers are not required to carry over more than 40 hours.

Ban the Box Law Amendments Are Now Effective in Philadelphia

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Posted in Policies and Handbooks

On March 28, 2016

On March 14, 2016, the amendments to Philadelphia’s “ban the box” law went into effect. The amendments to the city’s Fair Criminal Record Screenings Standards Ordinance (the “Ordinance”), signed into law by Philadelphia’s then Mayor, Michael Nutter, on December 15, 2015, create additional restrictions under the Ordinance on how and when an employer may consider a prospective employee’s criminal background during the application process (beginning when an applicant makes an employment inquiry and ending when the employer has extended a conditional offer of employment).

A Review of 2015 Green Patent Suits Filed

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Posted in Patent

On February 22, 2016

A summary review of green patent complaints filed in 2015 reveals that LED and Smart Grid technologies were the primary areas of dispute. Complaints filed in 2015 in areas such as biofuels, hybrid vehicles, and solar reflect the growth in clean energy patents issued in these technology sectors. LED Technology – The Federal Energy Star website says that LED lighting, when designed well, is different from incandescent and compact fluorescent lighting in that LED lighting is more efficient, durable, versatile, and longer lasting. In line with the growth of LED technology, this LED technology led with the number of patent complaints filed in 2015. At the end of 2015, Bluestone Innovations LLC filed 13 complaints against not only other LED manufacturers, but also retailers asserting infringement of Bluestone’s U.S. Patent No. 6,163,557, which directs to group III-V nitride films. The accused products in Bluestone’s suits are LED lightbulbs with group III-V nitride epitaxial films.

Supreme Court Holds Unaccepted Offer of Judgment for Complete Relief to Named Plaintiff in Putative Class Action Does Not Moot Claims

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Posted in Class Action Defense

On February 18, 2016

The Supreme Court of the United States recently issued its ruling in Campbell-Ewald v. Gomez, a closely watched appeal in which the Court held that a complete offer of relief to a named plaintiff in a class action does not moot the individual’s claim. As explained by Justice Ginsburg, writing for the majority and drawing upon lessons taught to a “first-year law student,” an unaccepted settlement offer “creates no lasting right or obligation,” “has no force,” and, thus, “is a legal nullity, with no operative effect” that “does not moot a plaintiff’s case.” The Court’s opinion follows up on its 2013 decision in Genesis Healthcare Corp. v. Symczyk, in which it assumed that an offer of complete relief, even if unaccepted, moots a plaintiff’s individual claim to the extent the plaintiff’s Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) collective-action allegations could not stand on their own.

Proportionality Carries the Day: Amended FRCP 26 Cited to Quash Overbroad Subpoenas

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Posted in E-Discovery: Legal Decisions and Court Rules

On February 16, 2016

As practitioners are well aware, the recent amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure took effect on December 1, 2015. In one of the first applications of amended Rule 26(b)(1), Magistrate Judge James Cott in the Southern District of New York utilized it to quash several overbroad subpoenas. In Henry v. Morgan’s Hotel Group, Inc., plaintiff Phillip Henry, a gay black man, sued his former employer, defendant Morgan’s Hotel Group, for race and sexual orientation discrimination and retaliation. Henry alleged that his former supervisor routinely disparaged him with racial and homophobic remarks.

N.Y. Court Grants Spoliation Sanctions for Destruction of Documents Decades Ago

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Posted in E-Discovery: Legal Decisions and Court Rules

On February 11, 2016

In Warren v. Amchem Products, Inc., Justice Peter Moulton sanctioned defendant J-M Manufacturing Company for destroying documents in 1990 and 1997 – 24 years and 17 years, respectively, before the Warren Estate filed suit against asbestos manufacturers in 2014. The Court granted plaintiff’s motion for spoliation sanctions and ordered that, should the case proceed to trial, the jury will be instructed that it may infer that the destroyed documents would have supported plaintiff’s claims and would not have supported J-M’s defenses.

NJ High Court Clarifies Standard for Revocation of Direct Access to State Highway from Commercial Property

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Posted in Development/Redevelopment

On February 11, 2016

In its recent decision in In Re Revocation of the Access of Block #613, the New Jersey Supreme Court clarified the standard governing the revocation of direct access from a State highway to a property used for commercial purposes under the State Highway Access Management Act and the State Highway Access Management Code. The case outlines the requisite procedure for revocation of a commercial property’s direct access to a State highway by the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT).

Gibbons Director David Freeman Featured in The New York Environmental Lawyer

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Posted in Environmental and Green Issues

On February 4, 2016

David J. Freeman, a Director in the Gibbons Real Property & Environmental Department, was recently profiled in the Fall/Winter 2015 edition of The New York Environmental Lawyer for his achievements as a longstanding member of the Environmental Law Section of the New York State Bar Association. A member of the Section for more than 30 years, Mr. Freeman serves as Co-Chair of both the Committee on Hazardous Waste/Site Remediation and the Section’s Brownfields Task Force. The Task Force played an important role in the passage of the State’s Brownfield Cleanup Act in 2003 and the amendments enacted in 2008 and 2015, and in monitoring and commenting on the implementation of the Act by the Department of Environmental Conservation. Mr. Freeman received the Section’s Distinguished Service Award in 2001.

EEOC to Collect Wage and Hour Data Based on Race, Ethnicity, and Gender in Effort to Aid Enforcement of Laws Requiring Pay Equity

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Posted in Wage and Hour

On February 3, 2016

The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) has proposed a change to the EEO-1 Report, the standard form used to collect workforce profiles from certain private industry employers and federal contractors. In its current iteration, the form annually requires employers to categorize their workforces based on gender, race, ethnicity, and job category, using data collected from one pay period occurring in July, August, or September of the reporting year. The amended form would require further categorization of employees based on W-2 earnings and hours worked.

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