This write-up is about wrongful termination settlements and verdicts in the state of New Jersey. It is uncommon for good claims to go to trial, because they frequently settle out of trial. However, if they do not settle, there’s always a lawsuit, in which the plaintiff or defendant will be the winner.
The majority of litigation cases consist of mixed verdicts, implying they involved one particular, or several claims of wrongful firing attributable to sexual orientation, gender expression or gender identity discrimination, gender discrimination, firing in violation of public policy, age discrimination, race, color, national origin, religion discrimination, constructive discharge, disability, breach of employment contract, workplace retaliation, pregnancy or whistleblower.
The data listed below provides a summary of the various types of claims filed plus their particular volumes in NJ in 2017.
| State | 2017 Total Charges | % of Total USA Charges | Race | Sex | Natl Origin | Religion | Color | Retaliation All Statutes | TVII Retaliation | Age | Disability | EPA | GINA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Jersey | 1611 | 1.90% | 533 | 447 | 212 | 85 | 47 | 687 | 536 | 400 | 510 | 16 | 1 |
Source: https://www1.eeoc.gov/eeoc/statistics/enforcement/state_17.cfm
Wrongful discharge and discrimination cases & settlements in New Jersey
$ 260,000
10/21/2011
Stanley Fischer v. New Jersey Office of Community Affairs
Stanley Fischer was fired from his managerial job at the Office of Consumer Protection in 2007, after working for the city for 16 years.
He alleged that he was wrongfully terminated in retaliation for confronting a politically connected subordinate who had committed infractions at work.
The jury awarded him $260,000, and a judge ruled that he is entitled to his job back. The judge also ruled that the city was to front the Fischer’s legal fees, totaling $1.29 million for its four years of work on the case. Source
$ 205,000
1/15/2003
EEOC v Babies “R” Us, Inc.
Andres Vasquez worked at a Babies R Us location in Paramus, NJ. He was a male who didn’t fit the typical male stereotype and because of this, he was subjected to constant harassment and mockery.
Because of the hostile work environment, he eventually quit his job. Sex discrimination, regardless of whether the victim is male or female, violates Title VII.
The EEOC sued the company on his behalf, and settled through a consent decree. Vasquez received $205,000 in damages. Source
$ 349,000
4/10/2009
Carol Caprarola v. University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
Carol Caprarola worked as a government affairs coordinator at UMDNJ, a public university.
She claimed that she was passed over for a promotion and terminated in retaliation for her having blown the whistle. She became aware of the university maintaining a political slush fund, and illegal contributions to officials from a Community Events fund (public universities cannot conduct political activities). She cooperated with investigators looking into the wrongdoings at the university and she testified before a federal jury against the school.
The jury agreed that she was wrongfully terminated, and awarded her $265k in punitive damages, and $84k in compensatory damages. Source
$ 50,000
3/8/2018
EEOC v Diverse Lynx, LLC.
Unfair discrimination laws protect not only existing employees, but job applicants as well.
In this lawsuit, the EEOC alleged that Diverse Lynx, and IT staffing agency failed to consider a job applicant because of his age. After learning the applicant’s year of birth, the company sent him an email that he will not be considered for the role because he was “born in 1945” and “age will matter.”
This violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). The lawsuit was settled through a consent decree, the applicant received a settlement of $50,000. Source
$ 70,000
11/4/2013
EEOC v UPS
UPS hired a new employee as a loader at its Saddle Brook facility in New Jersey. Shortly after he started working for the company, he informed his supervisor that he was a Jehovah’s Witness, and requested a change in work schedule to attend an annually held religious service.
His supervisor denied the request, and terminated the man a few days later.
This violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as the supervisor’s actions constitute religious discrimination. The employee’s request to accommodate his religious request could have been met, as it would not have meant undue hardship for UPS.
The EEOC sued UPS for wrongful termination due to religious discrimination. The case was settled though a consent decree, the employee received $70,000 in damages. Source
$10,649,117
4/5/2012
Joyce Quinlan v. Curtiss-Wright Corp.
In a trial made famous by the extensive use of internal company documents for proving alleged sex discrimination, Joyce Quinlan was awarded more than $10 million by a jury in New Yersey.
The case started out as a sex discrimination case. Joyce Quinlan had worked all her life for the aircraft electronics manufacturer, and had risen to the position of HR executive reporting directly to the CEO. But in 2003, a male employee with much less experience was promoted to a new top HR role, and Quinlan was reassigned to report to him.
Quinlan sued the company for violating Title VII and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, claiming she was passed over because she was a woman. At this time, she was still an employee of the company.
To prove her case, she copied 1800 pages of internal company documents, and handed them over to her lawyers. When the company learned about this, they terminated her. Because of the termination, she appended her case with wrongful termination in retaliation. Details, source
$ 25,000
1/27/2010
EEOC v New Community Corp.
Anthony Kerr worked as a part-time task force officer on placement at New Community Corp’s security department. He was Muslim.
The company asked all employees to donate money to a Catholic School, but Kerr refused, as his religious beliefs as a Muslim were different from that of the school’s. He was fired not long after, and the company even filed a complaint against him with the staffing agency.
This constitutes religious discrimination in violation of Title VII. The EEOC sued the company on his behalf, and a settlement was reached through a consent decree. He received $25,000. Source
$ 60,000
3/4/2009
EEOC v Shopper’s Vineyard
Bertram Irving worked for Shopper’s Vineyard in Clifton. He was the only black front-line manager at the store.
He was fired in 2006 for “economic reasons”. However, no white managers were laid off, even though they had considerable less experience than Irving.
He filed a report with the EEOC for racial discrimination and wrongful termination. A lawsuit was filed against the company for violating Title VII’s anti-discriminatory statutes. The case was settled through a consent decree, where Irving was paid $60,000 in damages. Source
When looking at this listing of unlawful firing verdicts from New Jersey, remember the fact that the large amounts are caused by punitive compensation, that are rewarded to deter businesses from doing the same unlawful act. Punitive damages are quite uncommon. The majority of cases will settle for anywhere from $10,000 to just a few hundred thousand dollars.
This unique selection of wrongful termination verdicts and settlements in NJ was created for informational purposes. Even if you feel resemblance to any of these circumstances, understand that each and every situation is unique.
What is the average wrongful termination settlement in New Jersey?
It is understandable that you might want to find out approximately how much money you can expect to be given for your wrongful discharge lawsuit.
If you reach settlement, the exact amount you receive is generally determined by these factors: lost wages, lost benefits, mental anguish, medical costs, costs of finding a new job and reason of termination. Punitive damages could also be awarded in rare situations, in the event the workplace behaved egregiously.
As you can observe from the sample cases above, providing a standard settlement for unlawful termination claims in NJ is really difficult because every single case is different.
The average wrongful termination settlement in New Jersey is between $6,000 and $100,000.
Lawyers are effective when working out a larger settlement.
The majority of jury awards are bigger, around $100,000 to $400,000. This is certainly one reason why companies like to accept a settlement before going to court. Numerous years of litigation, bearing the legal costs and maybe losing the court case in the end might be very expensive.
Filing a wrongful discharge or discrimination claim in New Jersey
If you think maybe you were let go for some kind of illegal cause, here is what to do.
To begin with, you’ll need to contact a wrongful termination attorney in New Jersey in order to discover if you have a case worth going after.
Make sure you have enough time to file the claim, have a look at the New Jersey laws of limitations for wrongful termination.
Secondly, you’ll probably need to file a timely claim with the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights (FEPA).
Here are the steps you should take to file a wrongful discharge lawsuit.
