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The Road to Forced Retirement
Our client was hired as a custodian at a NJ public school district in January 2014. He enjoyed his work and had been there more than ten years when he was, without explanation, summoned to a meeting with the district’s business administrator and the building and grounds supervisor.
Pressured to Retire
In that meeting, the business administrator urged him to retire, telling him that he’s at retirement age and should go home, work in his garden, and enjoy the rest of his life. Although a union representative was also present at this meeting, this rep was not identified to our client; and despite the fact that English is a second language to him, he was not provided a translator.
Believing he had no representation in this exchange with two high ranking district employees, our client felt pressured and intimidated. Nonetheless, he stated his intention to keep working for the time being, telling them that he might consider retirement in a few years—if it felt right for him and his family.
Harassed with Bogus Performance Complaints
After declining to retire as requested, our client began receiving performance write-ups that were clearly designed to create a paper trail that would support terminating his employment. For example, he was reprimanded for not using his walkie talkie, although these were often not in working order and he had been directed to communicate via cell phone. He was written up for leaving doors open when this had never been a concern before, and in fact, he often closed doors that a custodial contractor habitually left open.
Deceived
His daughter in law wrote the business administrator on his behalf, advising her that the meeting with her father in law was inappropriate and that their complaints about his job performance were baseless. The business administrator responded by expressing a desire for dialogue, praising her father in law as a great, hard-working employee against whom she had no complaints, and stating that the communications he received were not “write ups” but merely issues expressed in written form. She sent an additional email to our client, stating that the purpose of their meeting had been “to address issues and to explore ways to support you in your role.”
This caused our client additional anxiety over his job security, so he reached out to his union representative asking for help:
I am not only afraid to lose my job because I feel like I am being targeted and discriminated against, but I am being disrespected, causing emotional, psychological, and physical abuse to my physical health. I don’t want this behavior to continue from the upper management. I just want to do my job in peace and harmony.
An Unfortunate Diagnosis
Adding to his troubles, our client was hospitalized two months later and diagnosed with cancer. He underwent emergency surgery and three months of chemotherapy. Although he had requested leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for this period, it appears that the district placed him on administrative leave until December, which was applied to his sick time.
The Fight to Keep Working
After completing this course of treatment, he attempted to return to work in October 2024. Our client provided a doctor’s note clearing him to return to light duty work as of October 8. He was to avoid heavy lifting, excessive physical exertion, and prolonged standing or walking as well as repetitive bending, twisting, or reaching for about a month, at which time his condition would be reevaluated.
After providing this note from his doctor, our client reached out to the building and grounds supervisor about returning to work. This supervisor responded by summoning our client to a meeting at his office with the superintendent and the business administrator. He attended, believing the purpose of this meeting was to discuss his return to work. When he arrived, he again found that no translator was provided, and no union rep was present at this meeting. The business administrator proceeded to tell him that they could not accommodate his need for light duty work and that he should continue his “sick leave.”
Our client followed up this meeting with an email stating that since they were unable to provide him light duty work, he was requesting to be placed on FMLA leave after his contractual sick leave is exhausted. Because his employer apparently would not even consider accommodations for his medical needs, however, he would be forced to retire once his FMLA leave was used up. In an effort to protect his job, our client showed up on site and attempted to work several times, but he was always sent home.
Pushed Out the Door
At the end of October, he provided his employer an updated medical note authorizing FMLA leave from December until early March. The employer’s response was that he no longer had a job and had been replaced. He had not, however, been officially fired, so, believing he had no other choice, he submitted retirement paperwork in order to protect his income.
The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD) prohibits many forms of workplace discrimination, including discrimination based on age, disability, and national origin. When a disabled employee requests accommodation in order to continue doing their job, this law requires employers to engage in an interactive process to determine what specific accommodations would be appropriate and whether they could be provided without undue hardship. The districts failure to engage in this process, combined with their attempts to push him into retirement due to his age, harassment via performance complaints, and their failure to provide a translator to facilitate clear communication during important meetings, constitute violations of our client’s rights under the NJLAD, and our attorneys have reached out to the district demanding restitution.