Overview

Employers from all sectors enlist attorney John O’Connor to efficiently address and resolve employee concerns that arise in the workplace, including hiring, discipline, promotion, and termination decisions. Employers appreciate John’s keen awareness of the goals and interests of their business operations.

Clients benefit from John’s more than 30 years of experience in employment law, and his ability to quickly identify issues, offer strategies for resolving potential claims, and prevent or minimize litigation exposure.

When companies are unable to amicably and sensibly resolve their employment issues, they welcome John’s charismatic and eloquent manner in front of a jury. He zealously and persuasively represents businesses in all employment litigation matters. John skillfully assesses the evidence and witnesses’ strengths and weaknesses in devising strategically sound plans to most persuasively present a case to a jury.

Clients also rely on John for drafting employment policies and procedures, contracts, and handbooks to fit their unique business needs. Focused on ever-changing employment laws, John ensures that clients’ policies and procedures are timely updated so that they remain in compliance with the latest federal, state, and local employment laws.  

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John contributes to the firm’s Workforce Bulletin blog and is an ardent supporter of the firm’s pro bono efforts.  Most recently, he successfully represented a military veteran who received a less than honorable discharge in obtaining a discharge upgrade due to undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder from his experiences in Afghanistan.

An avid runner, John has participated in five marathons. An avid reader, John challenges you to identify a work of historical fiction that he has not already consumed.

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Focus Areas

Experience

Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances.

  • Successfully obtained a jury verdict after a four-week trial dismissing claims of age discrimination and retaliatory discharge on behalf of a retail employer.
  • Successfully obtained a jury verdict after a six-week trial dismissing claims of age discrimination and retaliatory discharge brought by the client’s former in-house corporate attorney.
  • Successfully defended a hostile work environment and race discrimination claim asserted by an aggrieved employee against a large retailer in federal court. John secured a jury verdict in favor of the client.
  • Successfully defeated a nationwide class certification of claim for overtime pay by a retailer’s managers alleging that they were misclassified. John took skilled depositions that enabled him to demonstrate that the plaintiffs could not establish the elements needed for class certification.

Recognition

  • Listed in New Jersey Super Lawyers, Employment Litigation: Defense (2010 to 2013, 2018, 2019). This award is conferred by Thomson Reuters. A description of the selection methodology is available here. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Credentials

Education

  • Georgetown University Law Center (J.D., cum laude, 1990)
  • Bucknell University (B.A., 1987)
    • Economics and French

Bar Admissions

Court Admissions

Professional & Community Involvement

  • Essex County Bar Association
  • Monmouth Bar Association
  • New Jersey State Bar Association

Languages

Media

Insights

Insights

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