Nutley Law Blog

What benefits can you get from a New Jersey workers' comp claim?

On behalf of Piro Zinna Cifelli Paris & Genitempo LLC on Wednesday, April 24, 2019.

For those unfamiliar with New Jersey's workers' compensation program, the benefits may seem unnecessary or even redundant. After all, you likely have health care coverage through your employer. You may even carry short-term and long-term disability insurance through a private company or through your employer.

However, those personal policies do not replace workers' compensation as a critical asset to working adults in New Jersey. In fact, the workers' compensation program is ideal for injured workers, even if they have other insurance. It offers wage replacement and medical coverage, as well as survival benefits in the event of a fatal workplace injury or illness.

Cancer signs your doctor could miss

On behalf of Piro Zinna Cifelli Paris & Genitempo LLC posted in Personal Injury on Thursday, April 18, 2019.

Here's a sobering statistic: About 38.4% of people will eventually develop cancer sometime in their life. The most common cancers are breast, lung, prostate, colon, rectum, skin and bladder -- although there are plenty of other contenders. All of them are potentially lethal.

Advances in modern medicine, however, can do wonders -- improving your odds of overcoming cancer like never before. However, that's only if you get a diagnosis in time. Otherwise, you may miss your window of opportunity to halt the disease from spreading and becoming unstoppable.

What types of spinal cord injuries are there?

On behalf of Piro Zinna Cifelli Paris & Genitempo LLC posted in Personal Injury on Thursday, April 11, 2019.

Your spinal cord is actually a complex bundle of nerves that are protected by a myelin sheath and the vertebrae that line your back. Because those nerves go to different parts of your body, not all spinal injuries have the same effect.

Knowing more about which region of the spinal cord is affected by accidental trauma is often the best way to understand what lies ahead and what to expect from treatment. Here are the basic areas in which spinal cord injuries occur:

The real cost of sexual harassment in 2019

On behalf of Piro Zinna Cifelli Paris & Genitempo LLC posted in Sexual Harassment on Thursday, April 4, 2019.

When the victim of sexual harassment on the job files a lawsuit against his or her employer, the most that victim can claim in damages is $300,000.

Does that sound like a lot? It's not. That figure was considered fair back in 1991 -- and hasn't budged in the decades since. At the time, the figure was meant to do two things. First, it was to compensate the victim for a damaged career, reputation, emotional state and other direct consequences of the harassment. Second, it was meant to pinch the pockets of the companies that allowed sexual harassment to flourish. If it's expensive to settle a sexual harassment suit, the logic goes, companies will do more to prevent it from happening in the first place.

New Jersey school sued for harassment, wrongful termination

On behalf of Piro Zinna Cifelli Paris & Genitempo LLC posted in Wrongful Termination on Wednesday, March 27, 2019.

Let's be perfectly clear about this: It is not acceptable for your employer to turn a blind eye when you are being sexually harassed at work -- even if the people doing the sexual harassment are other workers, customers or (in this case) a bunch of middle-school students.

A 36-year-old female teacher at a charter school in Paterson, New Jersey, says that she was the subject of outrageous acts of sexual harassment by her students. When she complained to management, not only didn't she receive any help -- she was discriminated against. Although she wasn't fired, the teacher's contract was not renewed -- which she claims was partially because of her complaints and partially because of her race.

Breastfeeding and workplace discrimination

On behalf of Piro Zinna Cifelli Paris & Genitempo LLC posted in Workplace Discrimination on Tuesday, March 26, 2019.

In theory, federal law provides protections for working mothers who are breastfeeding. As a nation, we all have an invested interest in making sure that our children are as healthy as possible -- and there's irrefutable evidence that breastfeeding is the best way to give a child a healthy start in life.

In reality, however, nursing mothers face constant challenges in the job. It's estimated that around 27.6 million women who could potentially bear children actually fall "in the gaps" between existing federal laws like Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the Break Time for Nursing Mothers law. Even many of those who are covered under the law find their rights thwarted at nearly every turn.

Men: Don't overlook these cancer warning signs

On behalf of Piro Zinna Cifelli Paris & Genitempo LLC posted in Personal Injury on Friday, March 22, 2019.

Here's a sobering reality for our male readers — the National Cancer Institute says that you're far more likely to die from cancer than a woman.

In large part, that may be because men are pretty bad about going to the doctor. They'll often ignore symptoms that are troubling until they simply can't anymore. With cancer, that's a problem. The earlier that you diagnose cancer, the more likely you are to survive.

How can you be an ally against racial discrimination at work?

On behalf of Piro Zinna Cifelli Paris & Genitempo LLC posted in Workplace Discrimination on Thursday, March 7, 2019.

You'd never dream of engaging in racial discrimination yourself -- but you'd like to do more. That's where being an ally can make all the difference.

Allies help stop discrimination and harassment from the outside. While not part of a community that's being subjected to discrimination, allies provide essential support -- and can help change situations for the better.

3 mistakes that can destroy your slip-and-fall lawsuit

On behalf of Piro Zinna Cifelli Paris & Genitempo LLC posted in Personal Injury on Wednesday, February 27, 2019.

Slips and falls account for a significant number of accidental injuries every year. Between icy sidewalks, torn carpets and badly lit stairwells, it's hardly surprising when you hear that someone has fallen and filed a claim over their injuries.

Unfortunately, a lot of errors get made in personal injury claims involving slips and falls -- which is why we're going to offer you some advice. Here are the biggest mistakes that people make after a slip-and-fall accident:

New Jersey employees complain of boss' harassment, get punished

On behalf of Piro Zinna Cifelli Paris & Genitempo LLC posted in Sexual Harassment on Friday, February 22, 2019.

Did a senior investigator working for the Division of Child Protection and Permanency (DCPP) in New Jersey sexually harass a female employee and then, out of apparent fury, pour vitriol on her male co-worker and friend? When they went to their superiors for help, did their superiors engage in "victim blaming" and retaliate?

It certainly seems that way. The allegations came to light due to a federal discrimination lawsuit filed by the victims. According to their complaint, the female victim was a drug and alcohol counselor for the Center for Family Services and the male victim was a DCPP investigator.