Blog
“I could have been a contender.” — Marlon Brando as Terry Molloy in On the Waterfront When, in a promissory note arbitration brought before FINRA in Manhattan, NY, the respondent broker’s promissory note contains a merger clause or integration clause, the question arises: Does the merger clause prohibit the broker from successfully maintaining a counterclaim against the claimant brokerage firm for fraudulently inducing him to…Read More
On June 1, 2011, in Voss v. Tranquilino, No. A-110-09 (N.J. June 1, 2011), the New Jersey Supreme Court, affirming the judgment of New Jersey's Appellate Division, held, in a per curiam opinion from which two Justices dissented, that a driver of a motor vehicle who is convicted of, or pleads guilty to, driving while intoxicated ("DWI"), N.J.S.A. § 39:4-50(a), may recover damages under the New…Read More
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, 29 U.S.C. §§ 201-219 (the “FLSA”), and its corresponding regulations, 29 C.F.R. § 510 et seq., require that most employees in the U.S. be paid not less than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour for all hours worked and overtime pay at 1½ times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of…Read More
On May 6, 2011, after an eight-day hearing, an arbitration panel of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”), sitting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, held that a discharged broker of Bank of America Corp. (“BAC”)’s Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (“Merrill Lynch,” the “brokerage firm,” or the “firm”) need not pay Merrill Lynch $3.3 million due on a forgivable loan.…Read More
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, 29 U.S.C. §§ 201-219 (the "FLSA"), and its corresponding regulations, 29 C.F.R. § 510 et seq., require nearly all employers to pay most employees not less than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour for all hours worked and overtime pay at 1½ times the regular rate of pay for all…Read More
Effective June 1, 2011, a new statute in New Jersey prohibits businesses from excluding unemployed individuals in advertisements for job vacancies. The new statute does not require companies in New Jersey actually to consider hiring the unemployed. Specifically, on or about April 24, 2011, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed into law a statute, Public Law 2011, Chapter 40, codified as…Read More
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, 29 U.S.C. §§ 201-219 (the “FLSA”), and its implementing regulations, 29 C.F.R. § 510 et seq., mandate that most employees in the United States be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour for all hours worked and overtime pay at 1½ times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked…Read More
The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, 29 U.S.C. §§ 201-219 (“FLSA”), sets forth employment rules relating to minimum wages, maximum hours, and overtime compensation. Section 15(a)(3) of the FLSA is an anti-retaliation provision that prohibits employers from, among other actions, “discharg[ing] or in any other manner discriminat[ing] against any employee because such employee has filed any complaint.” 29 U.S.C. § 215(a)(3). In March…Read More
To successfully sue a brokerage firm or other former employer in the securities industry in New Jersey for defaming him or her on a Form U-5, a broker or other registered employee must prove the usual elements of defamation, plus that the former employer acted with malice. Form U-5 (Uniform Termination Notice for Securities Industry Registration) is a form which brokerage…Read More
The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, N.J.S.A. §§ 10:5-1 – 10:5-30 (the "NJLAD"), bars all public and private employers from paying unequal wages on the discriminatory basis of, among other protected characteristics, age or gender. The statute of limitation for civil lawsuits brought under the NJLAD is two years. Montells v. Haynes, 133 N.J. 282, 285-286 (N.J. 1993). For further discussion of…Read More