In the ever-ongoing matter of Quinlan v. Curtis-Wright, the Appellate Division, on April 5, handed down a critical decision (docket number A-5728-06T1) which affects the evidential burden of proof regarding mitigation of future damages in cases coming under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD), N.J.S.A. 10:5-1 -42.
Plaintiff Joyce Quinlan joined defendant Curtis-Wright in 1980 and worked there for over two decades. In 2003, the company promoted a male employee over Quinlan, and he became Quinlan’s immediate supervisor. Perceiving that she was being discriminated against, Quinlan assembled nearly 2,000 internal documents and provided them to her attorneys. By the fall of that same year, Quinlan filed a complaint against the company asserting numerous violations of the NJLAD. Quinlan later amended her complaint to add a claim of retaliation after the company terminated her for unauthorized conduct regarding the copying of company files.
