Employment Discrimination

“You
are the managing partner of a small New Jersey business (“the
company”), with one location in Atlantic City. The practice has only
five employees, including you. You are tasked with hiring a new
computer technician for the facility. You choose to hire Billy, who is
the most qualified for the position. After Billy is hired, Billy
reveals that he is a homosexual to the other members of the practice.
Jen, who has worked at the practice since its inception 10 years ago,
and has had excellent performance for all 10 years, is devotedly
religious. She sincerely believes that homosexuality is immoral and
that Billy is a sinner. She comes to you and says that you need to fire
Billy because he is homosexual, and that homosexuals can’t be trusted.
Billy has performed superbly since he began work. He is one of the
best computer technicians the practice has ever had. Although Billy
revealed that he is homosexual to his colleagues, he has not done
anything inappropriate at work, or spoken of his sexual preference since
that time. When you don’t immediately fire Billy, Jen gets upset and
says that Billy being present at work is violating her religious
rights. You are concerned that if you fire Billy, you may face a
lawsuit from Billy, but if you don’t you may face a lawsuit by Jen.
What should you do?”

In an essay: (a) identify the Federal and New Jersey laws that are
relevant to your decision, and what specific claims Billy or Jen may
bring against the company under these laws; (b) analyze the likelihood
that the company would prevail in defending a lawsuit (i) if you fire
Billy and he sues under state and federal discrimination laws, or (ii)
if you don’t fire Billy and Jen sues under state and federal
discrimination laws. (c) Based solely on your legal analysis, what
should you do in this situation to best protect the company from
liability? Integrate New Jersey (state and federal) statutory and case law (from Westlaw) to support your analysis of these issues.

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