New Jersey Appellate Division Holds Aider and Abettor Liability Can Be Imposed on a Supervisor for His or Her Own Affirmative Violations of the NJLAD

In Rowan v. Hartford Plaza Ltd., 2013 WL 1350095 (N.J. App. Div. Apr. 5, 2013) (unpub.), the New Jersey Appellate Division held—in an unpublished opinion—that individual supervisors are subject to “aiding and abetting” liability for their own affirmative violations of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD). Courts remain mixed on this important issue of statutory interpretation, with a significant body of contrary case law holding that aiding and abetting liability applies only to instances in which an individual defendant assists another in violating the NJLAD, rather than to instances in which the individual defendant has affirmatively violated the NJLAD him or herself.