A non-Jewish man married to a Jewish woman may proceed with a discrimination claim after a Brooklyn appellate court found he was a member of a protected class.

The 3-1 Appellate Division, Second Department, ruled Wednesday in a matter of first impression that Jeffrey Chiara had sufficiently showed he was a member of a protected class by virtue of the allegedly discriminatory conduct he faced from employers and co-workers in the Town of New Castle because of his wife’s religion.