The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, or LAD, was established to help eliminate harassment and discrimination across the state. People must not be discriminated against based on their perceived race, actual race, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender, disability and other protected characteristics. Residents and business owners throughout New Jersey should understand this law and their rights under it.

Employment discrimination

Under the LAD, employers may not discriminate against employees based on their protected attributes. This type of discrimination includes hiring, firing, demoting, transferring or paying less money. A person’s protected characteristics should never be included in any sort of decision regarding their actual or future employment.

Public accommodation discrimination

The LAD makes it illegal for those in charge of public accommodations to discriminate against people due to their protected attributes. Those who fall in the public accommodation sector include schools, restaurants, businesses, medical providers and so forth. These places cannot deny service based on a protected attribute that a potential customer has.

Housing provider discrimination

Another sector that the LAD touches on is housing provider discrimination. This law makes it illegal for a housing provider to deny a place of residence to people due to any one of their protected characteristics. For example, a housing provider cannot refuse to rent an apartment to a couple simply due to their sexual orientation or race.

Retaliation

Another big component of the LAD is prohibiting retaliation. If a person who was discriminated against based on one of their protected characteristics exercises their rights underneath the law, the LAD protects them from being retaliated against. For example, if an employee reports sexual harassment to their human resources department, the company cannot fire the employee for doing so.

The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination helps to outline specific acts that are prohibited due to their harassing and discriminating nature. As a New Jersey resident, it’s important to understand your rights under this law so that you can exercise them if the need arises. If you have questions about a specific act of discrimination, you may want to consult an attorney about your rights.