Michael v. Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, 2008 N.J. Super. LEXIS 13 (NJ App. Div. Jan. 15, 2008).
A prevailing defendant may be awarded attorney’s fees in an action brought under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, N.J.S.A. 10:5-1 et seq. (the “LAD”), only if it can show that the losing plaintiff brought the claim in “bad faith.” N.J.S.A. 10:5-27.1. In Michael, the Appellate Division held that “bad faith,” in this somewhat unusual context, does not imply that the suit was initiated for a dishonest purpose, but rather equates to “a reckless disregard or purposeful obliviousness of the known facts.” Moreover, the Appellate Division instructed that, in determining what constitutes a “reasonable” award of attorney’s fees, the trial court should take into account the losing plaintiff’s ability to pay, as well as “the extent to which plaintiff pursued the matter because of her own views or . . . relied, either exclusively or partially, upon the advice of counsel.”
Read More