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In several civil lawsuits (not bankruptcy proceedings) in which this author represented the creditor, the debtor -- usually without its attorney's involvement -- has tendered to the creditor a check, in the amount of only a portion of the debt owed, marked "payment in full," "paid in full," "full payment," or the like. In such a scenario, the creditor typically asks this author:…Read More

No. In Manhattan, NYC, a company may not deduct from an employee’s paycheck, charge against an employee’s wages, or require an employee to reimburse the company for, monetary losses to the company, even if the employee’s carelessness caused the losses. For example, if an employee loses or damages a laptop computer or other property belonging to the company, the company may…Read More

In February 2012, the New York Court of Appeals — New York State’s court of last resort — held that where individuals, with an intent to blackmail or extort from a wrongdoer, truthfully report, to governmental officials, wrongdoing that is of public interest, no absolute privilege shields those individuals from liability to the wrongdoer for prima facie tort and tortious interference with prospective contractual rights.…Read More

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states in part: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . . .” The first of these two quoted clauses is known as the Establishment Clause. The second of these two quoted clauses is termed the Free Exercise Clause. In January 2012, in Hosanna-Tabor…Read More

In New Jersey, the rate of interest upon the loan or forbearance of any money, wares, merchandise, goods or chattels may not exceed 6% per year, or when there is a written contract specifying a rate of interest, 16% per year.  N.J.S.A. § 31:1-1. That is, in New Jersey, when the agreement is oral, charging interest of more than 6% per year is civil…Read More

With certain exceptions, a business in New Jersey may fire or refuse to hire a person because of his or her lawful, off-duty, political or recreational activities. Specifically, in New Jersey, employers may not refuse to hire or employ any individual and may not discharge from employment or take any adverse action against any employee with respect to compensation, terms, conditions or other…Read More

Though it is not required by law, the best practice for a company in Manhattan, NYC is to retain its employees’ personnel files for the length of the employee’s employment plus five years. This is the case, among other reasons, because an individual may file a lawsuit under the New York City Human Rights Law, N.Y. City Admin. Code §§ 8-101…Read More

On September 6, 2011, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development repealed its existing rules governing exemptions from overtime pay requirements for executive, administrative, professional and outside sales employees, and instead adopted by reference the analogous regulations issued under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 201-219 (the “FLSA”).   See here for a copy of the rule change.  New Jersey's…Read More

In June 2011, an arbitration panel of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”) in Manhattan, NY awarded compensatory damages of $493,906, plus costs, to a high yield trader formerly employed by respondent Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. (“Citigroup Global Markets” or “CGMI”), for breach of an implied contract to pay the trader a bonus for 2008. Sabri v. Citigroup Global Markets, Inc.,…Read More

We sure would appreciate you voting for our law firm’s blog, the New York Business Litigation and Employment Attorneys Blog. Our law firm’s blog has been nominated by LexisNexis for its Top 25 Labor and Employment Law Blogs of 2011. Votes and comments posted online will help determine the winning blogs. You do not need to be a lawyer to vote. So if you…Read More