In Oasis Therapeutic Centers Inc. v Wade, the Appellate Division held that it is a violation of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) to discriminate against a buyer of real property for use as a group home for autistic individuals “because of the disability of a person intending to live on the premises, even if the buyer does not fit within the protected class,” and “and that it is, with a discriminatory intent, unlawful to interfere with” such a purchase. The court reversed the dismissal of a LAD claim and rejected the trial court’s determination that the defendants’ “alleged interference with plaintiff’s attempt to secure a monetary grant from a nonprofit foundation to assist with its purchase” was protected by the United States Supreme Court opinion in E.R.R. President’s Conference v Noerr Motor Freight Inc., 365 US 127 (1961) “because it was not shown that the foundation was a governmental or quasi-governmental body.”  Noerr protects those who assert First Amendment rights of free speech and to address grievances before such bodies. Finally, the court held that the trial judge should have permitted plaintiff to amend the complaint to include tortious interference with plaintiff’s contract and economic opportunity.

The suit was commenced against those who interfered with the purchase, opposed and campaigned against plaintiff’s receipt of a grant from the Monmouth Conservation Foundation (MCF), made a “sham offer” to buy the property, “offered to pay the seller $250,000 to break his contract” and interfered with the use and enjoyment of the property after the sale finally closed.