N.J. Gets Boost in Suit Over First-in-Nation Severance Law (1)

An employer-focused trade group stumbled in its lawsuit challenging a recent New Jersey law mandating severance payments for workers affected by mass layoffs, when a federal judge allowed the state’s labor commissioner to probe how the group responded to the law.

New Jersey Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo can conduct discovery into whether the ERISA Industry Committee, known as ERIC, has put time, money, or resources toward educating its members about how the new severance law will affect them, Judge Zahid N. Quraishi said Thursday in an unpublished opinion. According to the commissioner, this information is needed to determine whether ERIC ...