Legal Question in Employment Law in New Jersey

Re: at will laws

Yes and no. You are correct that New Jersey is an employment at-will state, which means that most employees who do not have a written employment contract, are not in a labor union, and are not civil service employees can generally be fired for any reason, or even for no reason at all.

However, New Jersey has many exceptions to that general rule. For example, the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) makes it illegal to fire someone because of his or her race, age, sex (gender), pregnancy, mental disability, physical disability, color, national origin, nationality, marital status, domestic partnership status, affectional or sexual orientation, atypical hereditary cellular or blood trait, genetic information, military service, creed, or religion; the Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA) prohibits a broad spectrum of retaliation and "whistleblower" activities; the New Jersey Civil Rights Act prohibits firing an individual in violation of a right guaranteed by the United States Constitution, the New Jersey Constitution, or any federal or New Jersey law; and the New Jersey Family Leave Act prohibits firing an employee who took a protected family leave.

Those are a few of the most important New Jersey laws that restrict the right to fire an employee for any reason or no reason. There are many other New Jersey laws, not to mention numerous federal laws that protect employees. If you have been fired and believe it may have been unlawful or improper, you should consider calling an employment lawyer.