New Jersey Employment Law:

Fired after disclosing a pregnancy. Passed over for promotion despite being the most qualified. Paid less than colleagues of a different race.

You have a feeling the way you've been treated has something to do with your race, age, gender, disability, religion, or another protected characteristic. You may be right. In New Jersey, that kind of treatment is illegal even when your employer never comes out and says it.

A supervisor making repeated sexual comments. A work environment that turned hostile after you raised a complaint. Conduct based on your race, religion, or gender that made showing up unbearable.

You may still be at that job, dreading going in, not sure what to do. You don't have to be fired for harassment to be illegal. If the conduct has been severe or persistent enough to change what it feels like to go to work, you may already have a claim.

Fired the week after filing an HR complaint. Let go after a medical leave. Terminated despite a contract guaranteeing employment.

You were fired and something about it felt wrong. In New Jersey, not every firing is legal. If the reason behind your termination was your race, age, disability, a complaint you filed, or something you reported, your employer may have broken the law even if they never told you why.

Reported a safety violation and were demoted shortly after. Told HR about financial fraud and were fired weeks later. Refused to go along with something illegal and faced consequences for it.

You did the right thing — you reported something that felt wrong or illegal — and your employer punished you for it. That is retaliation, and New Jersey's CEPA law exists specifically to protect employees in your position. You don't have to have been certain it was illegal. A reasonable, good-faith belief is enough.

Received a severance offer and not sure if you should sign. Asked to sign a non-compete before starting a new job. Fired in a way that contradicts what your contract says.

Before you sign anything — a severance agreement, a non-compete, an arbitration clause — talk to an attorney. What you agree to now can permanently affect your rights later. And if an employer has already violated an agreement you had, you may have a claim for that too.

Working overtime but your check doesn't reflect it. Doing the same job as employees but classified as an independent contractor. Working on a government-funded project and not receiving the required rate.

You look at your paycheck and something doesn't add up — or you've started to wonder whether the way you're classified is actually legal. If you haven't been paid what you're owed, you may be entitled to back wages, penalties, additional damages, and attorney's fees.