MYRON
COWHER VS. CARSON & ROBERTS, ET AL.
A-4014-10T1
Reversing
summary judgment in favor of plaintiff's employer and two co-workers, we hold
that plaintiff, a non-Jew, presented a prima facie case of discrimination on
the basis of perceived religious affiliation through videotapes and admissions establishing
that the co-workers had regularly uttered anti-Semitic epithets and engaged in
other anti-Semitic conduct directed at plaintiff. In reaching that conclusion, we found a presumption to exist
that defendants' conduct was spurred by plaintiff's perceived status as a
Jew.
We
also found prima facie evidence that defendants' conduct was severe or
pervasive enough to make a reasonable person believe that the conditions of
plaintiff's employment were altered and that the working environment had been
made hostile or abuse. We held in
that regard that the conduct should be evaluated from the perspective of a
reasonable Jew, and that the fact that plaintiff was not Jewish was relevant
only to his damages.
04-18-12
