A crackdown by the Supreme Court of New Jersey on employers who shorten the two-year limitations period on discrimination claims is expected by some employment lawyers to have far-reaching impact.
The court’s recent decision in Rodriguez v. Raymours Furniture Co. said the state’s Law Against Discrimination (LAD) could not be contravened by a private agreement between an employer and employee. Setting deadlines for raising workplace discrimination claims to something less than the law allows is uncommon, but the June 15 ruling is worded broadly to permit its application in other workplace disputes and even in consumer contracts, according to some lawyers who have been closely watching the case.
