New Jersey Protection Against Discrimination for Veterans and Service Members

The Law Against Discrimination has protected people because of their "liability for service in the Armed Forces of the United States" since the 1940s, and P.L.2017, c.184 extended its full protection to them. That language covered people who might be called up. It did not clearly cover veterans. What changed. P.L.2025, c.307, approved January 20, 2026 and effective immediately, rewrote the Act so that the protected characteristic is "service in the Armed Forces of the United States or liability for service in the Armed Forces of the United States". N.J.S.A. 10:5-12 now makes it unlawful for an employer to refuse to hire, discharge or discriminate against someone "because of an individual's service in the Armed Forces", and the same words run through the housing, public accommodation and membership provisions. An employer who will not hire a veteran because it fears post-traumatic stress, or a landlord who will not rent to a veteran, now faces the same remedies as for race or sex discrimination. The act also rewrote the definition of veteran in N.J.S.A. 10:5-39 for the affirmative action rules on state public works contracts: 90 days of active service, other than dishonorable. How to enforce it. N.J.S.A. 10:5-18 requires a complaint to the Division on Civil Rights within 180 days of the act. N.J.S.A. 10:5-13 also allows a complaint in Superior Court, heard before a jury. Guard and reserve members at work. N.J.S.A. 38A:14-4 makes it a crime of the fourth degree, with a mandatory minimum fine of $2,500, to willfully deprive a member of the organized militia or the Armed Forces or reserves of employment, or to obstruct them at work, because of membership or duty. N.J.S.A. 38:23C-20 requires a private employer to reinstate someone who left a permanent job for military service, including state active duty ordered by any governor, if he or she applies within 90 days, or within 10 days after training of up to three months, and forbids discharge without cause for a year afterwards. The Superior Court hears these cases on an expedited basis with no fees, and the Attorney General may act for the member. These sit alongside federal USERRA.