A New Jersey woman fired from her job at a ski resort after she blew up at her boss because she had to work on Christmas Eve cannot sue for age discrimination, a state appeals court ruled on Monday.

A two-judge Appellate Division panel refused to reinstate the lawsuit filed by plaintiff Karen Murphy against her former employer, Mountain Creek Resort in Vernon.

“Plaintiff has offered no evidence that the reason for her termination was motivated by her age or any other discriminatory animus,” said Appellate Division Judges Harry Carroll and Hany Mawla.

Murphy was fired on Dec. 11, 2012, after she was told that she would have to work a half day that Christmas Eve. The ruling said she “raised her voice” at her supervisor, Lindsey Spasova, after learning she wouldn't have the day off and was fired.

At the time, Murphy was 58 years old and had worked in the resort's accounts payable department for 16 years.

After she was fired, she filed a lawsuit against the resort, alleging wrongful termination, the creation of a hostile work environment, wrongful retaliation, aiding and abetting discrimination and a violation of the New Jersey Civil Rights Act.

Sussex County Superior Court Judge Edward Gannon dismissed the case on summary judgment, finding Murphy failed to present a prima facie case of age discrimination. Murphy then appealed. Superior Court Judge Robert Hannah subsequently denied a motion for reconsideration.

In order to prevail, the appeals court said, Murphy had to prove four elements: that she was a member of a protected class, that she was performing her job at a level that met her employer's expectations, that she was fired and that she was replaced by other workers who did substantially the same work.

The appeals court agreed with the trial judge that while Murphy did show that she met the first three prongs of the test, she failed with regard to the fourth.

The appeals court also rejected allegations by Murphy that younger workers at the resort formed “cliques” and that she was excluded from their groups.

“[T]here is no specific example of either a hostile work environment or aiding and abetting to support a prima facie case of discrimination,” Carroll and Mawla said. “Plaintiff's outburst was not a formal grievance or complaint of discriminatory behavior, which would have been protected under the LAD.”

Murphy is represented by Michael Rehill, who runs a firm in Vernon. He did not return a telephone call.

The resort's attorney, Stefani Schwartz, said the appeals court reached the correct ruling in demanding that discrimination claims be well-documented.

“The appeals court recognized its job is not to second-guess a business decision,” said Schwartz, of Parsippany's Schwartz Simon Edelstein & Celso.