SYLLABUS

(This syllabus is not part of the opinion of the Court. It has been prepared by the Office of the Clerk for the convenience of the reader. It has been neither reviewed nor approved by the Supreme Court. Please note that, in the interests of brevity, portions of any opinion may not have been summarized).

Beth Godfrey, et al. v. Princeton Theological Seminary (A-64-07)

Argued April 7, 2008 -- Decided August 4, 2008

LaVECCHIA, J., writing for a unanimous Court.

In this sexual harassment case, the Court considers whether the actions of an elderly tenant of Princeton Theological Seminary (Seminary) were severe or pervasive enough to create a discriminatory hostile environment under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD), N.J.S.A. 10:5-1 to -49.

William Miller, a 1964 alumnus of, and contributor to, the Seminary, resided at apartments that were in close proximity to the Seminary’s main campus and were considered on-campus housing. Miller frequently attended public events held at the Seminary and otherwise often could be found on the campus. Plaintiffs Beth Godfrey and Jennifer Bayne Kile were enrolled at the Seminary. Kile’s initial contact with Miller was in 1999; Godfrey first encountered Miller in 2000. Miller, who was in his late sixties, attempted repeatedly and persistently to obtain a date with each woman. Godfrey’s encounters with Miller took place over a period of years and involved sitting with him during lunch in the Mackay Campus Center at a table with others, seeing him at several fellowship gatherings, receiving from him several social invitations and a Christmas parcel, finding five messages on her telephone answering machine in which Miller became more urgent and persistent in his pursuit of a date with her, and running into him in a local store. Kile’s encounters occurred over a similarly lengthy period of time and included three encounters in the library, receipt of a package containing religious articles, an incident in the Campus Center and chapel, and an email that she received while in England, to which she did not respond. Godfrey and Kile were distressed by Miller’s persistent advances and believed that he was monitoring their activities or stalking them.