TRENTON – Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced today that the Division on Civil Rights obtained approximately $2.2 million in settlement payouts on behalf of alleged discrimination victims last year.

Cases amicably resolved in 2014 ran the gamut from a South Jersey school district accused of failing to effectively address the race-based bullying of a student to an employer accused of firing a pregnant worker after she took doctor-prescribed medical leave to accommodate her pregnancy.

Also settled were cases involving denial of equal employment opportunity for women, sexual harassment in the workplace, failure to accommodate a deaf or hard of hearing person, and failure by two separate businesses to accommodate legally-blind persons accompanied by trained guide dogs.

In addition to payments to the alleged victims and the State, settlements negotiated by the Division always included non-monetary terms such as required training in the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD), creation of new or updated anti-discrimination policies and procedures, and regular reporting requirements to ensure compliance with the law.

“The significance of these case settlements went well beyond the dollars, because the agreements contained forward-looking conditions – for example, better training and more clearly defined anti-discrimination policies – designed to strengthen and protect civil rights,” said Acting Attorney General Hoffman. “On a continuing basis, our commitment is to ensure that all persons receive fair treatment, equal access and equal opportunity, and to hold accountable those who fail to respect the rights of others.”

Division Director Craig T. Sashihara said, “The financial terms of the individual settlements are nice. However, our focus is broader. We’re working to get employers, housing providers and places of public accommodation to make institutional reforms so that they comply with state and federal law for the benefit of the public at large.”

“Typically,” Sashihara said, “that means implementing wide-scale internal policy changes, educating their decision-makers on their legal obligations, and providing us with a mechanism by which to measure their progress. We’ve worked behind the scenes in a number of matters – where no formal complaint was filed – to persuade the parties to do the right thing.”

In addition to obtaining settlement payouts and important policy reforms from alleged violators in 2014, the Division processed approximately 8,000 inquiries from the public regarding civil rights issues, conducted approximately 2,400 intake interviews and accepted more than 700 new cases for investigation.

The Division also issued many Findings of Probable Cause in 2014 that benefited New Jersey residents from all walks of life.

For example, DCR investigations found that: a medical practice fired a Bergen County professional for taking time off under the Family Leave Act to care for her father in the final days of his terminal illness; a company selected a Morris County woman for lay-off because she was pregnant and expected to go on maternity leave;  a student was expelled from a private school because her disability required some accommodations;  an African-American man was continuously harassed by his supervisor while working in a Mercer County factory because of his race; an Essex County woman was not considered for a full-time position because the employer was only seeking male applicants; a registered nurse was fired by a Monmouth County health care provider due to her pregnancy; a Hudson County woman working in a legal practice was sexually harassed by her supervisor; a restaurant discharged a long-time server who lived in Bergen County because of her age, and a Gloucester County girl was subjected to years of vicious, student-on-student bullying because of her race.

Cases settled by the Division in 2014 included:

• Falasca Mechanical, Inc. :  Falasca, a mechanical contracting company located in Vineland, Cumberland County, agreed to pay a total of $400,000 to resolve allegations that it violated the law and state Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) rules by failing to employ female plumbers on jobs it handled, including many publicly-funded projects.

Under terms of the settlement, Falasca paid the State $250,000 and paid a female plumber, Bette Feldeisen, $150,000 to resolve allegations that it repeatedly hired less experienced and less qualified male plumbers over Feldeisen, and overall failed to make a good-faith effort to employ female plumbers while handling millions of dollar in public works jobs.

• Franklin Township Board of Education: The school board in Franklin Township, Gloucester County, agreed to pay an African-American student $75,000 to resolve allegations that it failed to effectively address race-based bullying aimed at her when she attended elementary school in the district. In addition to paying the student, who is now a teenager, the school board agreed to allocate at least $2,500 for creation of an anti-bullying awareness program to be used during the present school year. The harassed girl attended the Franklin district’s Main Road School, and was victimized on a consistent basis between the third and sixth grades.

• Golden Grange Kennels/Joseph Mosner: Golden Grange Kennels  and its owner Joseph Mosner, both of Chesterfield Township, Burlington County, agreed to pay a former employee $20,000 to resolve allegations that Mosner sexually harassed a female employee, leaving her no choice but to quit her job. According to a Division investigation, the female worker alleged that Mosner engaged in inappropriate sexual comments, sexual innuendo and sexual overtures –including approaching her with an invitation to “sleep over” when she was alone and closing up the kennels one night.

• Trane U.S., Inc.: A subsidiary of Ingersoll Rand, Trane U.S., Inc. agreed to pay a former employee $55,000 to resolve allegations that it discriminated by terminating the woman after she took doctor-prescribed medical leave in the final weeks of her pregnancy. In addition to paying former assembler Charnelle Gilliard, of Ewing Township, Mercer County, Trane was required to pay $15,000 to the Division on Civil Rights. Ingersoll Rand also agreed to implement a number of reforms in its other 11 or more facilities around the state, including creation of a written policy making clear that medical leave for normal pregnancy will be treated the same as leave taken for any other medical condition or disability. At the time Gilliard was terminated in 2012, the LAD had not yet been amended to include pregnancy as a protected classification. However, the LAD did prohibit sex discrimination, and the courts have interpreted sex discrimination to include discrimination based on pregnancy.

• Medford Care Center: The Medford Care Center, a private nursing facility located in Medford, Burlington County, agreed to provide a certified sign-language interpreter for deaf and hard of hearing patients who request it. Medford Care’s agreement to “engage in an interactive process” with deaf or hard of hearing patients – and to provide those who prefer it a certified sign language interpreter for discussions related to their cases – was part of a settlement resolving allegations brought by the family of a deaf patient, Mary Jane Barton. Barton’s family acknowledged that Medford Care had provided her a sign-language interpreter for two conferences with physicians, but alleged that all other communication – including conversations about Barton’s condition and symptoms – was either conducted through her son, or via written notes and lip reading. On several occasions, the family alleged, Barton was unaware of certain medical procedures to be performed on her because of a lack of adequate communication. As part of the settlement, Medford Care agreed to update its disability policy to include specific protocol for accommodating the deaf and hard of hearing. Medford Care also agreed to train all personnel regarding the updated policy.

• George Dapper, Inc. : Based in Woodbridge Township, Middlesex County, George Dapper, Inc. provides transportation services to several school districts in central New Jersey and employs approximately 500 people. In 2014, the company agreed to pay a former employee $45,000 to resolve allegations that it unlawfully discriminated by firing her after learning she had a mental-health-related disability. The employee had begun working for Dapper in 2003 as a part-time bus driver, and had been promoted in 2010 to a full-time, salaried position as a payroll clerk. She was discharged in mid-July 2012, one week after meeting with company officials and being assured the company would hold a job for her while she sought treatment for a mental-health-related illness.

As part of the settlement, Dapper agreed to train its management staff and line employees in the Law Against Discrimination. The company also was required  to update its human resources policies to make clear that employees with physical and mental disabilities have a right to, and will be provided, reasonable accommodation.

• Broughten Deli (Essex)/Mark Variety Store (Mercer): Under separate settlement agreements resulting from separate, unrelated incidents, two legally blind men received $1,500 each from businesses accused of denying them service because they were accompanied by trained guide dogs. Legally blind Trenton resident Yvonne Ware received a $1,500 settlement payment to resolve allegations that he was told to leave the Mark Variety Store in Trenton after entering the store with his guide dog in October 2012. 

Dalvin Adebiyi, a legally blind resident of Bloomfield, Essex County,  received a $1,500 settlement payment that resolved allegations his guide dog was denied entry at the Broughten Deli in Bloomfield. In that incident, Adebiyi was accompanied by an orientation and mobility specialist employed by the New Jersey Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired. The Division of the Blind employee, who was assisting Adebiyi in learning a new walking route to a pharmacy in Bloomfield, identified himself and explained that the dog was a service animal allowed by law to enter the store. Despite that information, Adebiyi was directed to remove the guide dog. Both the Mark Variety Store and Broughten Deli settlements included a requirement that employees be trained in the LAD as it pertains to service animals, and that the staff of both businesses also undergo sensitivity training  designed to enhance future interactions with persons using a service or guide dog.

The Division also conducted training sessions for public and private entities on how to ensure their practices conform to anti-discrimination laws, and also conducted “know your rights” seminars geared toward individuals. For example, the Division met with graduating high school students – many entering the work force for the first time – to discuss what they should expect, and what would be expected of them, in a professional setting. There were also a series of well-attended seminars, conducted in association with the American Legion and New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, designed to promote awareness among military personnel of their rights under the LAD.

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