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New Jersey DOL Issues
SCHOOL CAN'T BAR RELIGIOUS GROUP'S MATERIALS
The Stafford Township School District must treat the Child Evangelism
Fellowship as any other community organization by granting its request
to distribute and post its materials in the school and participate
in "back-to-school nights," ruled the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals. In Child Evangelism Fellowship of New Jersey Inc.
v. Stafford Township School District , the school district denied
the organization's request to publicize its after-school program,
alleging its Bible-based philosophy raised concerns about violating
the establishment clause. In affirming U.S. District Judge Mary Little
Cooper, the 3rd Circuit pointed out that because the school permits
distribution of materials by other such groups espousing religious
views as the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and the Elks, excluding the Evangelism
Fellowship based on its religious orientation constitutes viewpoint
discrimination. And, simply granting equal access would not create
such excessive entanglement with th! e organization as to cause the
school to violate the establishment clause, held Circuit Judge Samuel
A. Alito. 10-18-04
RELIGIOUS SYMBOL ORDERED REMOVED FROM SCHOOL
Ed Harris, principal of Boca Raton , Fla. , Community High School
, did not violate student Sharah Harris' First Amendment speech right
when he directed her to remove religious messages and symbols she
had painted on a school mural, an 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
panel ruled. In Bannon v. School District of Palm Beach County
, the court affirmed U.S. District Judge Daniel T.K. Hurley's
dismissal of a suit by the student's mother. In a finding that differed
from a recent 3rd Circuit ruling in Child Evangelism Fellowship
of New Jersey v. Stafford Township School District , Hurley had
said school grounds are not a public forum protected by free speech.
The principal had a legitimate educational objective in maintaining
the separation of church and state, ruled Hurley, and the 11th Circuit
concurred, noting the principal had no obligation to allow students
to "use the walls of a public school to proselytize." 10-19-04
COURT ADMINISTRATOR'S SEX BIAS LAWSUIT SETTLED
After three years of litigation and legal expenses exceeding $100,000,
Pequannock Township will pay its court administrator Kathleen J. Koegler
$70,000 to settle her gender discrimination suit. Koegler, who has
held the post since 1988, sued in May 2001, claiming she had been
assigned all the duties and responsibilities of a department head,
but was paid less than men in similar managerial positions - not based
on a merit pay or seniority system, but because she is a woman. She
had been seeking compensation for an estimated 500 to 700 hours of
overtime for which she claimed she was inadequately compensated, plus
unspecified punitive damages. According to township records, she earned
$47,000 before she sued and she now earns $52,000. Under terms of
the settlement, Koegler is not recognized as a department head, said
Township Councilman Ed Engelbart. Koegler was represented by Joseph
J. Bell Jr. of Denville. 10-19-04
STAFFORD v. AT&T
Appellate Division, A-313-03T3, October 19, 2004 , not approved for
publication.
Summary judgment for the defendants in an action alleging violation
of the Law Against Discrimination, breach of the implied covenant
of good faith and fair dealing, negligent and reckless infliction
of severe emotional distress, and violation of various provisions
of the New Jersey Constitution arising from the termination of the
plaintiff's employment affirmed; the record supported the trial court's
ruling that the plaintiff did not establish a prima facie
case of discriminatory discharge under the LAD; although he was a
member of a protected group and had been discharged, the plaintiff
(1) did not rebut the defendants' evidence that he had taken unauthorized
days off from work and was therefore not "performing his job
at a level that met his employer's legitimate expectations" and
(2) did not offer evidence to support his allegation that his employer
treated a white employee more favorably.
EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION CASE AGAINST FAA SETTLES
In a significant settlement of a reverse-discrimination case against
the government, plaintiff Michael C. Ryan will be promoted to a managerial
position at Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City , and his lawyer
will receive a $360,000 fee. The settlement calls for Ryan to receive
a salary increase and eight years' back pay plus interest and brings
to an end more than nine years of litigation in the employment discrimination
case against his employer of 28 years, the Federal Aviation Administration.
In Ryan v. Mineta, Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation
, Ryan alleged the FAA repeatedly passed him over for promotion
because he is white and male, following an unwritten "50-50"
policy under which FAA managers were required, as a condition of their
own performance reviews, to promote women and minorities at least
50 percent of the time. The suit sought to have those policies declared
void as a matter of federal constitutional and statutory law. A f!
ormal consent order signed this month by Chief U.S. District Judge
John W. Bissell finalized the settlement, reached recently after 22
days of trial. Hanan M. Isaacs of Princeton was Ryan's lawyer and
U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie represented the government.
10-20-04
