Business v. business harassment suit permitted in New Jersey

A New Jersey appellate court has found the State's Law Against Discrimination applies to a claim by one business that another ceased doing business with it because its female owner refused the sexual advances of a branch manager of the second business. Sexual harassment claims are normally brought under the employment laws, but New Jersey's LAD is broader. The LAD prohibits a gender based refusal to do business with another. The appellate court had little difficulty determining that quid pro quo harassment was based upon gender here. It remains an open questions as to whether the LAD covers a hostile environment created by one business affecting another.