The court considered a matter of first impression relating to the application of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD). Specifically, the court considered whether the LAD applies to claims arising from a sexual predator's criminal assaults against a young schoolgirl where those crimes were committed on a school bus. Under the circumstances of this case, the court concluded the LAD did not apply, especially where, as here, there was no evidence that the predator's compulsive and repetitive behavior was the result of any proven intention to discriminate specifically against young women. The court found the LAD was simply not intended to provide a civil remedy for child sex abuse committed by compulsive pedophiles. Even if it was, it concluded a victim must demonstrate the discriminatory conduct would not have occurred 'but for' the student's protected characteristic. The court concluded the plaintiffs did not meet that burden. The court's opinion construing the LAD did not address or preclude relief under other laws that were not invoked by plaintiffs on appeal.
