Applicable Laws When Your Employer Breaks the Anti-Discrimination Law Against Veterans

After having spent years fighting for your nation, coming back to the real world and trying to lead a normal life can be quite a challenge. In the process of finding a stable job, there are cases where employers show a bias against veterans for several reasons. However, Karen DeSoto, human rights activist and legal analyst explains that veterans are protected under anti-discrimination laws at the workplace, allowing them to take necessary legal measures to protect their rights.

Here are a few things you should know –

The Uniformed Service Employment and Re-employment Rights Act

If you are able to prove that your claims are right, the employer may be compelled to reinstate your job, back pay, reimburse your lost benefits, restore your vacation leave, reimburse your attorney fees, correct your personal files, compensate for lost promotional opportunities if any, pursue pension adjustment and maybe even liquidate damages towards a willful violation.

The Family and Medical Leave Act

If you are able to prove that your employer is violating the FMLA, the law will compel your employer to remedy your lost wages, any actual monetary losses you incurred, attorney’s fees, lost benefits, and possibly liquidate damages for will-full violation. Typically, an employee has 2 years from the exact date of violation to sue their employers.

If your employer is violating any of the above laws, you can file a claim with the Department of Labor. Another option you have is to file a suit through your own attorney.

3 Things about Karen Desoto That You Should Know

She Is a Thorough Professional

Karen’s career includes practicing law, appearing on TV as a legal analyst for NBC News, a university professor, and the co-founder of the Institute for Dispute Resolution. This combined with her fervent local activism in her community has received notice more than once, with her winning praise and awards throughout — named top 50 most influential in Hudson County, Attorney of the Year, honored by the NAACP, and many more.

She Has the Knowledge Backed By Qualifications

Karen DeSoto holds a Juris Doctorate and a Masters of Law in Trial Advocacy from the Beasley School of Law at Temple University.

Her Experience in the Field Is Worth Appreciating

After graduation, Karen served as a public defender and then prosecutor, before becoming a part of the private sector. By the year 2000, she established the Center for Legal Justice – a law firm focusing on civil rights, employment discrimination, and election law.  In 2001, she became the first woman, first Hispanic and the youngest person to be ever appointed as Chief Corporate Counsel for the city of Jersey City, New Jersey.

How the Students at IDR Are Excelling With the Right Guidance

The youth of any country are their future. And when the students are trained well, they are bound to excel – giving us a promising future ahead of us. This is something that the faculty at the Institute for Dispute Resolution understands quite well.

With the right guidance and coaching from law experts like Karen DeSoto, who is also the co-founder and co-director of the Institute, the students are accomplishing laurels one after the other. IDR keeps outshining others with the caliber, skills and training of its coaches.

Leman Kaifa, who was a part of the NJCU team that won “Most Effective Opening Address” honors at the Vienna competition (Consensual Dispute Resolution Competition) last year, is a political science major who also represented NJCU at this year’s 12^th Annual International Commercial Mediation Competition in Paris, France — along with Justin Davis and Kaylee Saltos.

It is important to note that while hundreds of schools applied for participating in the 12^th Annual International Commercial Mediation Competition, only sixty-six were chosen, and NJCU was the only business school chosen from the United States.

In the competition, the students participated in [a week-long] mock mediation sessions that provided them practical learning experience. They interacted with other students — as well as professionals — to gain a better understanding of international mediation practices.

The team was coached by Karen DeSoto and Christian Corrales. DeSoto, is also the founder of the Center of Legal Justice. She was the youngest lawyer (and first woman, and first Hispanic) to ever be appointed as Chief Counsel for the city of Jersey City, New Jersey. During her tenure as an attorney, she served as a public defender, a prosecutor, in private practice, and has since 2010 been an on-air legal analyst for many news shows, now under contract for NBC News.

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Efforts of the Idr Led To the Passing of a Law with Global Impact

The Applied Research Division of the Institute for Dispute Resolution [at the NJCU School of Business] diligently pushed for and contributed to a New Jersey legislative bill to accommodate international business disputes. The bill encourages a framework that would promote international mediation in New Jersey. On February those efforts paid off as the governor of New Jersey signed into law bill ‘S602” as the New Jersey International Arbitration, Mediation, and Conciliation Act.

Karen DeSoto, the co-founder and co-director of the Institute for Dispute Resolution, recently stated that bill S602 had strong bipartisan support, from both Senators Sandra Cunningham and Tom Kean Jr. As per DeSoto, the law intends to position New Jersey as a hub for business meditations from around the world, which will really help in increasing global trade for the state.

She was pleased with the efforts of the IDR and said, “There was previously no mechanisms in place for businesses to settle disputes in New Jersey outside of full legal actions. This will greatly enhance the use of mediation as a dispute resolution tool. And New Jersey is now one of only ten states that have passed such legislation. I’m very proud that the Institute was able to contribute to this legislation in a positive way.”

The Institute for Dispute Resolution (IDR) has also seen success in mentoring its students who have faired well in international mediation competitions. In 2015 the students won an award at the Vienna competition. Karen DeSoto has recently been interviewed about the IDR by Brie Austin. .