Katherine E. Chrisman

Select representations include:

• An employer restaurant chain in mediation in a case that settled for $450,000 where a former employee alleged to have been a victim of sexual assault and a hostile work environment under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) by her former supervisor, where the supervisor had pled guilty to related offenses.
• An employee in a suit initiated by his previous employer (a solar company) where he had begun working for a new solar company despite the existence of a covenant not to compete in his contract. The judge denied his previous employer’s requests to temporary restrain the client from working for his new employer. Ultimately, the lawsuit settled.
• A library in securing summary judgment in a case where an employee was terminated after utilizing a cane due to a knee injury, and, ultimately, he was found unfit for duty after a physician conducted a fitness for duty evaluation.
• A township in a claim filed by a highly ranked employee who alleged sexual harassment and other violations under LAD against the mayor. The mayor had attempted to terminate the plaintiff, however, the Township Board voted against the termination, and a private investigation found that the mayor had engaged in misbehavior. Following discovery, motion practice, and mediation, the case was settled for $550,000.
• A police department where the motion to dismiss the complaint was granted and the case dismissed in a claim by a plaintiff who alleged he was visiting a public department without wrongdoing, yet he was detained, his personal items were confiscated, and he was placed in the back of a patrol vehicle.
• A homeowners association (HOA) in a case and settlement where the plaintiffs, a homeowner and his adult son, alleged discrimination under the LAD and the Federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) for the HOA’s denial of the request to construct an extension on their home to permit space for the adult son, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, where arbitration had previously ruled in favor of the plaintiffs.
• An HOA in securing a summary judgment in a case where the plaintiffs, residents of the HOA, requested to keep certain animals, in contravention to the HOA’s rules and regulations, as “emotional support animals” and provided medical notes. This request was denied by the HOA Board, and the plaintiffs sued under the LAD and FHA. The motion to dismiss the complaint was successful in a new action filed by one of the same plaintiffs in the action against the HOA where the client had previously been awarded summary judgment in the action requesting to keep their animals as “emotional support animal.” In this second suit, the plaintiff added individual board members.