Prado v. State

In this case, a state employee was sued by co-workers for, among other things, violating their rights under the Law Against Discrimination and the Conscientious Employee Protection Act. In accordance with N.J.S.A. 59:10A-1, the employee requested that the Attorney General undertake his defense. Based on an internal investigation, the Attorney General declined to do so, claiming that the employee acted outside the scope of his employment and engaged in willful misconduct. In this appeal, we articulate the standard that must inform the Attorney General’s decision whether to defend a state…