Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani attorneys Melissa J. Brown and Jonathan R. Stuckel successfully defended an apartment complex owner and property management team in a discrimination lawsuit filed under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD).
The plaintiff, a tenant in the apartment complex owned by GRSM’s client, alleged discrimination and harassment based on race and disability, as well as a hostile environment in a place of public accommodation. The GRSM team argued that the complaint relied on conclusory allegations, lacked specific incidents of discrimination, and failed to meet the legal standards required to establish NJLAD claims. They further contended that the apartment complex did not qualify as a “public accommodation” as pled by the plaintiff under NJLAD.
The court agreed, granting the motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. Additionally, the court denied the plaintiff’s cross-motion to amend the complaint, deeming the proposed amendments futile.
This result underscores the capabilities of GRSM’s Employment team in effectively defending against complex discrimination claims by presenting compelling legal arguments and aggressively pursuing the dismissal of meritless claims early on in litigation.