CRANFORD — An employee of the TD Bank branch in Cranford refused to notarize documents for a New Jersey-based atheist organization for "personal reasons" after members explained their religious affiliation, the group's president said.

David Silverman, who heads American Atheists from their Cranford headquarters, visited the bank Tuesday with Managing Director Amanda Knief to get charitable organization registrations for several states notarized. Silverman said he had been to the bank a dozen times in the past to get documents notarized, and had never had a problem.

On Tuesday, though, Silverman said the notary asked about their organization and then refused to validate their paperwork.

“Amanda explained what we do, and (the notary) said, ‘Okay, well, I’m not going to do this for you. For personal reasons I’m not going to do this for you,’ and went to find someone else,” Silverman said.

The employee got another notary, Silverman said, and he notarized the documents.

“It’s sad, because this is New Jersey, and it’s 2014, and we’re supposed to be beyond all this stuff,” Silverman said. “And TD Bank is supposed to be beyond all this stuff, they’re supposed to be a pro-diversity bank.”

Rebecca Acevedo, TD Bank's vice president for public affairs, said: “Valuing diversity and building an inclusive environment is a fundamental part of TD’s culture. We treat all consumers fairly and with respect, and this instance was no different.”

The entire issue was a misunderstanding that arose from the notary not knowing how to handle certain government documents, Acevedo said.

“Our employee did not understand how to process this particular paperwork and needed help that, unfortunately, led to the miscommunication,” Acevedo said.

The employee has not been disciplined, she said.

New Jersey has an extremely strong law against discrimination, according to ACLU-NJ Legal Director Ed Barocas, which not only protects against discrimination toward someone who follows a certain religion, but also someone who does not follow one.

“This person’s job is to notarize documents. If she denied providing that service because she personally disliked the fact that this group did not ascribe to her religion, or religion in general, that would be against the law,” Barocas said.

Whether or not the alleged refusal was illegal, Silverman said, it did run afoul of the first guiding principle in the Notary Public’s Code of Professional Responsibility, which reads: The notary shall not refuse to perform a lawful and proper notarial act because of the signer’s race, nationality, ethnicity, citizenship, religion, politics, lifestyle, age, disability, gender or sexual orientation.

“This person is state-licensed to do a public service, and she discriminated on basis of religion,” Silverman said. “I don’t think it should work this way. I don’t think people should go through a process to determine whether or not the notary approves of them.”

American Atheists, a national nonprofit educational organization founded in 1963, has been based in New Jersey since 1998, Silverman said. According to their mission statement, the group promotes the separation of church and state and furthering a secular ethical system stressing mutual sympathy and understanding.