A.B.C., PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT, v. XYZ CORPORATION AND XYZ COMPANY, INTERNATIONAL, DEFENDANTS-RESPONDENTS., 282 N.J. Super. 494

Summary

Appellant former employee sought permission to pursue an employment discrimination claim against appellees, former employers, using pseudonyms so to mask all parties' identities. Appellant argued that anonymity was needed because he suffered from exhibitionism, which he claimed was a handicap under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, N. J. Stat. Ann. §§ 10:5-1 et seq. The lower court denied the application, and dismissed the case. Appellant sought review, and the court affirmed. The court found that the right of the public to know the identity of parties in court proceedings in a civil case for money damages outweighed any claim of appellant to anonymity; that governing rules permitted parties' identities to be masked only where minors were involved, or in other rare situations; that basic fairness required that appellant, as an "accuser," reveal his name; that appellant had not shown any real danger of physical harm; that the claimed injury litigated against was alleged ...