New Jersey LAD and the ADA

The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD, LAD) prohibits discrimination and harassment based on actual or perceived race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, and other protected characteristics. The law applies in employment, housing, and places of public accommodation (generally, places open to the public, including businesses, restaurants, schools, summer camps, medical providers, etc.). The LAD is a state form of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). According to Seyfarth Shaw, among its other objectives, the LAD is intended to insure that handicapped persons will have full and equal access to society.

Reasonable Accommodations

The LAD’s prohibition on disability discrimination means that in addition to not discriminating against individuals based on disability, employers, housing providers, and places of public accommodation must provide reasonable accommodations to a person with a disability unless doing so would be an undue burden on their operations. A reasonable accommodation may include:

• Restructuring the job of a person with a disability, or providing a modified work schedule or leave of absence;

• Allowing a tenant with a disability to keep an emotional support animal, even if the building has a no-pet policy;

• Making public accommodations accessible to people with disabilities (including allowing a person with a disability to be accompanied by a service animal).

The obligation to consider or to provide a reasonable accommodation may be triggered when an employer, housing provider, or place of public accommodation becomes aware that a person with a disability needs an accommodation. The person is not required to use any magic words in order to request an accommodation and cannot be penalized for requesting an accommodation.

The obligation to provide a reasonable accommodation also applies to people who are pregnant or breastfeeding.

Finally, the obligation to provide a reasonable accommodation also applies to accommodations on the basis of religion. So, for example, an employer who has a “no hat” policy would be required to grant a reasonable accommodation to a Muslim woman who wears a hijab or a Jewish man who wears a yarmulke, unless doing so would be an undue burden on their operations.

One important difference between the ADA and NJLAD is that NJLAD applies to businesses with as few as one employee, unlike Title 1 of the ADA, which only applies to employers with at least 15 employees.

SUMMARY: The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD, LAD) prohibits discrimination and harassment based on actual or perceived race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, and other protected characteristics. According to Seyfarth Shaw, the LAD provides a private cause of action for any individual who has faced barriers to access at places of public accommodation. An aggrieved individual also has the option of filing a complaint with the New Jersey Division of Civil Rights. All remedies available in common law tort actions, such as compensatory damages and damages for emotional distress, are available to prevailing plaintiffs under the LAD.