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On Feb. 18, 2020, the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights (DCR), Office of the Attorney General, issued a comprehensive report, entitled “Preventing and Eliminating Sexual Harassment in New Jersey—Findings and Recommendations from Three Public Hearings” (the “DCR Report”), based on information culled from a series of hearings held in September 2019. Available at https://www.nj.gov/oag/dcr/pdfs/DCR-SH-Report_Feb2020.pdf, pp. 2-3. The DCR’s goal was to address the problem of sexual harassment in the workplace and places of public accommodation and housing. The DCR Report contains recommendations for legislative amendments, additional educational outreach by the DCR, and best practices. Id. at 23-25. Although the primary focus of the DCR Report was on sexual harassment, the DCR recommendations encompass harassment based upon all of the protected classes under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD) (race, creed, color, national origin, age, ancestry, nationality, marital or domestic partnership or civil union status, sex, pregnancy, breastfeeding, gender identity or expression, disability, military service, affectional or sexual orientation, atypical or cellular blood trait, genetic information). N.J.S.A. 10:5-1, et seq; N.J.S.A. 10:5-12.
