Cutler v. Dorn

In Cutler v. Dorn, the New Jersey Supreme Court held that the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination applied equally to alleged discrimination based on religion as it did with respect to other forms of discrimination:

“  |  This appeal involves a claim brought under the Law Against Discrimination (LAD), N.J.S.A. 10:5-1 to -49, by a Jewish police officer who alleged that he was subjected to a hostile work environment based on his religion and ancestry. The principle issue before us is whether the trial court erred in denying a motion for involuntary dismissal and allowing the claim to be decided by the jury. The jury found in plaintiff's favor on the hostile workplace claim, however, it awarded plaintiff no damages. On appeal, the Appellate Division reversed that verdict, finding error in the trial court's denial of the dismissal motion and the later denial of a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (nov). Cutler v. Dorn, 390 N.J. Super. 238, 255, 915 A.2d 65 (2007).

We granted plaintiff's petition for certification, 192 N.J. 595, 934 A.2d 637 (2007), and, for the first time, we will assess the sufficiency of a plaintiff's proofs in an essentially religion-based hostile work environment claim. Consistent with this state's strong policy against any form of discrimination in the workplace, we hold that the threshold for demonstrating a religion-based, discriminatory hostile work environment cannot be any higher or more stringent than the threshold that applies to sexually or racially hostile workplace environment claims. Therefore, and also consistent with our holdings on hostile workplace claims in those settings, we conclude that plaintiff's case satisfied the standards for a hostile work environment claim to warrant, and subsequently uphold, a jury determination.

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Cutler v. Dorn, 196 N.J. 419, 423-24, 955 A.2d 917, 919-20 (2008).