New Jersey Court Imposes Limits On State Law's Near-Limitless Definition Of Disability

• Published date: 29 June 2023
• Subject Matter: Employment and HR, Coronavirus (COVID-19), Discrimination, Disability & Sexual Harassment, Employee Rights/ Labour Relations, Employment and Workforce Wellbeing
• Law Firm: Littler Mendelson
• Author: Mr Keith Rosenblatt, Jonathan Carrillo and Anastasia Stylianou

• New Jersey Appellate Division decision finds employee suspected of contracting COVID-19 failed to assert a perceived disability claim under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination.
• Decision shows New Jersey courts are willing to limit expansive definition of "disabled" under state law, but employers still need to be mindful that disability discrimination cases under both state and federal law are extremely fact-specific.

Although both the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) and the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibit disability and perceived disability discrimination in the workplace, the LAD definition of "disability" is significantly broader than is the federal ADA definition. As a result, many employers have assumed - often correctly - that virtually any medical condition may constitute a covered disability under the LAD, triggering that law's reasonable accommodation obligations and termination precautions. On June 7, 2023, in Guzman v. M. Teixeira International, Inc., the New Jersey Appellate Division showed a willingness to limit the LAD's seemingly boundless definition of "disabled," ruling against an employee alleging a perceived disability claim involving COVID-19.

The Differing Definitions of "Disability" Under Federal and New Jersey Law

Under both the ADA and LAD, covered employers are prohibited from discriminating against qualified individuals on the basis of a physical or mental disability with regard to employment and its terms, conditions, and privileges. Both statutes also impose a duty to provide a reasonable accommodation for such an individual's disability, and to engage in an interactive process to find such an accommodation, if possible. Where they most fundamentally differ, however, is how each law defines "disability."

The ADA defines "disability" as: (1) a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities; (2) a record of such an impairment; or (3) being regarded as having such an impairment, regardless of whether the impairment limits or is perceived to limit a major life activity. Consistent with the "substantially limiting" qualifier of the first two definitions, under the third definition, the ADA further curtails an individual's ability to state a "regarded as" claim if the impairment is "transitory and minor," with a "transitory impairment" defined as one with an "actual or expected duration of 6 months or less."

The LAD's definition of disability is much...