HOBOKEN — A retired municipal court official will get a chance to go to trial on a claim that the city discriminated against him because he is a man.

Former deputy municipal court administrator Luigi Percontino sued the city after he says officials promoted a less qualified woman to be the top court administrator.

A Superior Court judge, however, dismissed his lawsuit in 2015 based on the fact that Percontino never applied for the job.

But on appeal, Percontino argued that he never applied because the city never let him know about the position and “deliberately” withheld that information in order to discriminate against him.

An appellate court panel on Wednesday agreed with Percontino’s argument and allowed his lawsuit to continue.

While public attention is often highlights discrimination directed at women in the workplace, the state Law Against Discrimination also protects men.

Writing for the website of the Society for Human Resource Management, a human resources professional association, attorney Jonathan A. Segal says employers cannot favor women in hiring, cannot positively stereotype women by saying that they are better leaders than men, and they cannot typecast hiring and promotions based on what they believe to be traditional male and female jobs.

British researchers found that women were more likely to be passed over for engineering jobs while men where more likely to be passed over for secretarial jobs despite qualifications.

Segal suggests businesses that are looking to diversify their hiring should do more to advertise job openings and have a more diverse hiring committee.

Percontino retired from Hoboken in July 2016 and collects an annual pension of more than $41,000 based on a final salary of more than $76,000. His earnings would have been substantially higher had he gotten a promotion. The current court administrator in the Mile Square City earns more than $107,000 a year.

Sergio Bichao is deputy digital editor at New Jersey 101.5. Send him news tips: Call 609-359-5348 or email sergio.bichao@townsquaremedia.com.

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