John Shahdanian II a member of the firm and Chair of its Employment Law Group devotes his practice to all aspects of employment and civil rights litigation. John is a recognized expert on a variety of employment law topics including sexual harassment, racial discrimination, disability claims, whistleblowing, family leave issues, employment contracts and non-competition/restrictive covenant litigation. He represents both management and employees before Federal and State courts, State Administrative Tribunals and at arbitration.

As a result of his active practice and accomplishments in the field of Labor & Employment Law, John was recently selected by the New Jersey Law Journal to its prestigious “40 Under 40” list which recognizes the 40 most accomplished lawyers in New Jersey under age 40.

John was also named to the 2006, 2007 and 2008 New Jersey Monthly Magazine list of Rising Stars in the field of Labor & Employment Law. The Rising Stars list recognizes New Jersey's outstanding young lawyers who are nominated by the magazine's Super Lawyers, the top five percent of attorneys in the state.

In addition to his trial successes, John has significant experience with employment matters before the New Jersey appellate courts, having briefed the matter of Gaines v. Bellino, in which the New Jersey Supreme Court established an affirmative defense for employers that have a policy prohibiting discrimination and provide training to supervisors. John also successfully obtained Certification from the New Jersey Supreme Court in the matter of Potente v. County of Hudson, where the plaintiff alleged an illegal termination based on handicap discrimination.

John has also authored or co-authored revisions of the City of Jersey City, Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners, North Hudson Regional Fire & Rescue and Haven Savings Bank’s Policies Prohibiting Discrimination and Harassment. He supervised the implementation of those Policies and has performed the sensitivity training for the County of Bergen, City of Jersey City, Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners, North Hudson Regional Fire & Rescue and Haven Savings Bank.

In recognition of his expertise and achievements in employment law, John was invited to serve as a Master of the Sidney Reitman Employment Law American Inn of Court. John has been an active member of the Reitman Inn for many years, previously graduating as a student and then serving as a Barrister and long time member of the Inn’s Program Committee. The Reitman Inn is the first American Inn of Court devoted exclusively to Labor and Employment Law advocacy and concentrates on all aspects of labor and employment law from the perspectives of management, plaintiffs, unions and governmental agencies.

John also represents the firm’s public entity clients in matters involving the New Jersey Tort Claims Act (Title 59), where he has obtained multiple dismissals of significant matters. In November of 2003, John successfully argued the matter of Velez v. City of Jersey City, before the New Jersey Supreme Court. In Velez, the Supreme Court held, for the first time, that a plaintiff is required to provide a public entity with written notice of her claim, whether the claim is based on negligent or intentional conduct.

In November of 2005, John was appointed to the Seton Hall University School of Law Alumni Council, which supervises and administers the affairs of the Seton Hall University School of Law Alumni Association.

John is active in his hometown of Old Tappan where he is the Democratic Municipal Chairman and member of the Lion’s Club. He also coaches his children’s football, soccer and baseball teams.

John joined Chasan Leyner as a law clerk in 1996. Following his clerkship with the Hon. Thomas P. Olivieri and Hon Barbara A. Curran, John returned to Chasan Leyner and became a principal of the firm on February 1, 2005.

Education

Boston College, BA 1994
Seton Hall University School of Law, JD 1997

Clerkship

Law clerk, Hon. Thomas P. Olivieri and the Hon. Barbara A. Curran, Superior Court of New Jersey, Hudson County, Criminal Division, Jersey City, New Jersey, 1997 - 1998

Admitted to Practice

New Jersey
New York
United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

Memberships

Published Articles

Casenote, Constitutional Law-First Amendment-Parody Contained On Training Cards Does Not Violate An Athletes Right Of Privacy-Cardtoons L.C. v. Major League Baseball Players Association, 95 F.3d 959 (10th Cir. 1996). 7 SETON HALL J. SPORT L.423 (SPRING 1997)

Dedication, (Howard Cosell)-Telling It Like It Is. 6
SETON HALL J. SPORT L. 1 (SPRING 1996)

Published Opinions

Gaines v. Bellino, 173 N.J. 301 (2002)

Velez v. City of Jersey City, 358 N.J. Super 224 (App. Div. 2003), cert. granted, 177 N.J. 224 (2003), aff’d on other grounds, 180 N.J. 284 (2004)

Potente v. County of Hudson, 185 N.J. 297 (2005)

Other Opinions

Linden v. Spagnola, 2002 WL 1625414 (2002)

Lectures/Speaking Engagements

Hudson Inn of Court
“How to handle employee complaints”-April 2005

Sidney Reitman Employment Law Inn of Court
“How to Handle a Restrictive Covenant Case”-October 2005

National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA)
“Everything You Wanted to Know About Plaintiff’s Employment Law”
Topic: Handling a Sexual Harassment Case- April 8, 2006

Please Contact Us for additional information .

Email: jshahdanian@chasanlaw.com