70 and older gain new life with expanded bias protections

On October 5, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed legislation expanding the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD) to provide increased protections against age discrimination for workers 70 years of age and older. The new legislation closes loopholes by repealing provisions permitting age discrimination in hiring, promoting, and retirement practices, while increasing available remedies to those facing age discrimination in employment.

Amendments

While the NJLAD is one of the strongest antiharassment laws in the country, it may be surprising to some that it permitted employers to refuse to accept for employment or to promote any person over 70 years of age, required tenured employees at higher education institutions to retire at 70, and limited available remedies to reinstatement and backpay with interest.

The NJLAD previously stated, "Nothing herein contained shall be construed to bar an employer from refusing to accept for employment or to promote any person over 70 years of age." It also contained the following clause for higher education institutions: "An employee who has attained 70 years of age who is serving under a contract of tenure or similar arrangement providing for tenure at a public or private institution of higher education may, at the option of the institution, be required to retire." In addition, those forced to retire at a certain age were limited to filing a complaint with the state's attorney general with potential relief limited to reinstatement with back pay and interest, which is unlike every other form of discrimination under NJLAD.