New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin and the Division on Civil Rights (DCR) announced the adoption of comprehensive new rules codifying the prohibition against disparate impact discrimination under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD). The rules, published in the New Jersey Register on December 15, 2025, clarify legal standards for disparate impact liability in employment, housing, public accommodations, financial lending, and contracting, including the use of artificial intelligence in employment contexts. The rules do not create new liability but provide clarity on existing LAD protections amid federal rollbacks of disparate impact standards.
In-house legal teams should review employment agreements, vendor contracts for automated hiring or artificial intelligence tools, housing provider service agreements, public accommodation terms, and government contractor bid documents to ensure compliance with New Jersey’s new disparate impact rules under the LAD. Key clauses to examine include hiring screening criteria (criminal history, credit score requirements), AI and automated decision-making tool representations and warranties, dress code or appearance policies, religious accommodation provisions, contractor bid selection criteria, and minimum income requirements for housing. Teams should verify that all neutral policies include less discriminatory alternatives and do not disproportionately impact protected classes, and that vendor agreements for AI tools require vendors to certify their tools do not produce unlawful disparate impact based on protected characteristics.
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OtherOfficial Press Release
https://www.njoag.gov/ag-platkin-announces-division-on-civil-rights-adopts-landmark-rules-on-disparate-impact-discrimination-under-new-jersey-law/
DCR Disparate Impact Discrimination Rules 13 16 12.15.2025
https://www.njoag.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/DCR-Disparate-Impact-Discrimination-Rules-13_16-12.15.2025.pdf
DI Burden Shifting Flowchart
https://www.njoag.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/DI-Burden-Shifting-Flowchart.pdf
N.J.A.C. 13 16 Disparate Impact Discrimination
https://www.njoag.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/N.J.A.C.-13-16-Disparate-Impact-Discrimination.pdf
New Jersey Attorney General Enforcement Page
https://www.njoag.gov/about/divisions-and-offices/division-of-consumer-affairs/
"AG Platkin Announces Division on Civil Rights Adopts Landmark Rules on Disparate Impact Discrimination Under New Jersey Law"
"The adoption was published in the New Jersey Register on December 15, 2025."
"New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Division on Civil Rights (DCR) announced today"
"codify the prohibition against disparate impact discrimination under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD)"
"the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights enforces the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, the New Jersey Family Leave Act, and the Fair Chance in Housing Act"
"The new rules can be found at N.J.A.C. 13:16"
The press release is a weekly roundup of Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones' activities, including updates on vape legislation, joining a 22-state coalition opposing a USPS firearm mailing proposal, filing emergency appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court regarding redistricting, commencement speeches, and Law Day events. No privacy-related enforcement actions are documented.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong praised final passage of House Bill 5312, which creates new civil enforcement mechanisms for deepfake digital sexual assault. The legislation allows the AG to pursue civil injunctions and penalties against platforms that disseminate illegal synthetic intimate images, including AI-generated child pornography, and establishes a private right of action for victims. The bill builds on prior Connecticut laws criminalizing unauthorized dissemination of intimate images.
The FTC is seeking public comment on an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) to amend the Negative Option Rule, which governs prenotification negative option marketing plans. The rulemaking aims to address deceptive or unfair practices including misleading disclosures, unauthorized billing, and difficult cancellation processes, following over 100,000 consumer complaints about negative option practices in the past five years. Comments will be accepted for 30 days after the ANPRM is published in the Federal Register.
A multistate coalition co-led by New Jersey won a federal court order rejecting the Trump Administration’s decision not to request funding for the CFPB. The order struck down that decision and directed the Administration to follow the law and fund the agency; no monetary penalty or privacy violation is described.
New Jersey’s Attorney General and Division of Consumer Affairs alerted the public that three synthetic kratom-related compounds became illegal to possess or sell in the state under a temporary federal scheduling order. The release describes a controlled-substance alert, not a privacy enforcement action, and identifies no company, privacy violation, or monetary penalty.
$2.3M
Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings agreed to pay $2,287,455 to participating states and strengthen its security and vendor-management practices following an investigation into the 2019 breach at its debt-collection vendor, AMCA. The breach potentially exposed information of more than 27.5 million people nationwide, including sensitive information belonging to approximately 10.2 million LabCorp patients.