New Jersey Employment Attorneys Blog
Although the statute of limitations for filing a claim under New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination (LAD) lapses after two years from the last act of discrimination, a plaintiff may still have a viable LAD claim under the continuing violation doctrine according to a recent Appellate Division decision in Mansour v. Brooklake Club Corp., 2019 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 1579 (N.J. App. Div. decided July 10, 2019).
Plaintiff Adel Mansour was employed as a cook for Defendant Brooklake Club (Brooklake) between 2003 and 2016. Id. at *2. He alleged that during the time he worked for Brooklake his supervisor harassed him because Mansour was Egyptian and Muslim. Mansour’s supervisor frequently made unwelcome comments to or around Mansour about former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and the Muslim Brotherhood and implied Mansour had ties to terrorist organizations and activities. Id. at *2-3. In March 2014, when Malaysia Airlines flight 370 disappeared, Mansour’s supervisor “joked” about the pilot being Egyptian and then hung a large world map in the kitchen on which he wrote “Adel, where is it?” in reference to the lost plane. Id. at *4. Mansour’s supervisor also continuously criticized Mansour for not eating pork and frequently referenced that Muslims do not eat pork for religious reasons, telling Mansour, “…you Muslims don’t know what you’re missing.” Id. at *5-6. Mansour felt singled out by this conduct and told his supervisor to stop on numerous occasions, but the comments continued. Id. at *4-5.
The trial court found Mansour’s hostile work environment claim untimely because most of the alleged discriminatory acts took place outside of the LAD’s two-year statute of limitations. Id. at *5. However, the Appellate Division agreed with Mansour that the trial court “misapplied the continuing violation doctrine and failed to recognize the cumulative pattern of ongoing harassment he suffered directly related to his religion and nationality.” Id. at *7.