Blog
New Jersey Wrongful Termination Plaintiff Forced to Arbitrate Despite Change in Law
In a recent case decided by the New Jersey Appellate Court, the plaintiff signed an arbitration agreement with PSEG when he first took a job with them in 2008. After he took another job with PSE&G, a PSEG subsidiary, in 2011, he was eventually terminated for various reasons including allegedly misconstruing his work hours and falsifying expense reports. The plaintiff brought suit against PSE&G and PSEG, alleging that his termination violated both the LAD and CEPA, as well as the common law. The trial court granted the defendants’...
Read More....New Jersey Court Rules Injured Worker is No Longer Entitled to Opioid Medication
A New Jersey petitioner previously receiving opioid pain medication to treat pain from a work-related injury will no longer be compensated for the medication because he did not provide enough evidence that the opioids would heal or relieve his condition. This was true even though the petitioner provided medical expert testimony who stated that a long-term prescription of opioids would be reasonable in these circumstances. The New Jersey Appellate Court, however, deferred to the workers’ compensation judge’s decision to give ...
Read More....New Jersey Landlords May be Held Liable for Criminal Acts by Others Against Tenants
A landlord who fails to take certain safety precautions, such as fixing locks in an apartment unit, may be held liable for a resulting criminal act against a tenant. The New Jersey Appellate Court held in a recent case that a landlord had a duty to protect tenants from third parties through reasonable means, and that intrusion into a tenant’s unit and resulting physical harm––including murder––is within the scope of that duty.
In that case, the plaintiff, Rosena Pitts, was a mother who sued for the wrongful death of her daughter, Tam Marie...
Read More....A Synopsis of NJ Workers’ Compensation Benefits
Workers’ Compensation provides benefits to an employee who suffers a personal injury or death arising out of, and in the course of, his or her employment. If the employee suffers an injury resulting in death, his or her dependents may receive the benefits.
The focus of Workers’ Compensation benefits is to compensate for the loss of the ability to work, as opposed to pain and suffering, which is actionable through a civil tort claim. Therefore, the benefits are focused mostly on losses stemming from the inability to work. If the injury ...
Read More....New Jersey Expands Wage Laws to Create Greater Penalties and Liability for Employers
On August 6, 2019, New Jersey enacted a new law increasing penalties and liability for employers who commit wage violations. The law revises New Jersey’s Wage and Hour Law (WHL), Wage Collection Law (WCL), and the Wage Payment Law (WPL). The main changes of this law affect anti-retaliation provisions, statutes of limitations, penalties, administrative power and oversight, and distribution of wage rights information. In addition, the new law introduces criminal liability to employers who commit wage rights violations or take ...
Read More....Medical Marijuana is a Valid Benefit Under Workers’ Compensation Law Says New Jersey Appellate Court
On January 23, 2020, the New Jersey Appellate Division ruled in the case of Hager v. M&K Construction that New Jersey workers’ compensation insurance carriers cannot refuse to provide reimbursement for legitimately prescribed medical marijuana as part of a workers’ compensation coverage on the grounds that reimbursement would conflict with federal law––namely the Controlled Substance Act (CSA). Even though the CSA makes it a federal crime to manufacture, possess, or distribute marijuana, the New Jersey Appellate...
Read More....Internet Car Sale Not Subject to Suit in New Jersey Courts
A California man who sold a vintage car to a New Jersey man over the internet was found not subject to suit in a New Jersey court, even for a claim arising out of that exact sale. According to a recently decided case by the New Jersey Appellate Court, a single internet sale by a seller who does not typically conduct internet sales and between two parties who have never contracted before is not conduct specifically directed towards New Jersey enough that the seller may be subject to suit there.
The plaintiff in the case, Joseph Jardim (Joseph),...
Read More....Widow’s Wrongful Death Claim Dismissed by New Jersey Courts Due to Statute of Limitations
A widow who filed a wrongful death claim based on medical malpractice after her husband died had her claim dismissed because she waited too long. The New Jersey Appellate Court ruled that, based on the language of New Jersey’s Wrongful Death Act and Survivor Act, any claim brought under those acts must be brought within two years of the death at issue. A statute of limitations requires that a certain claim be brought within a certain period of time after the incident giving rise to the claim. If the claim is brought after that time period runs,...
Read More....NJ Employee’s Injury on Public Street Ruled Not Compensable Under Workers’ Compensation Law
Employees who cross public highways while walking to and from commuter lots may not be covered by New Jersey workers’ compensation laws in the event of an injury, even if the employer leases parking spaces in that lot. In a case recently decided by the New Jersey Appellate Court, Jersey Medical Center/RWJ Barnabas Health (RWJ) prevailed on a motion to dismiss a claim for workers’ compensation benefits by employee Emily Manuel (Emily) after she was hit by a car while crossing a public street on her way to a commuter lot.
Emily began working...
Read More....Volunteer Not Entitled to NJ Workers’ Compensation Benefits
A worker who was injured while volunteering for a “Family Fun Day” organized by her employer, and situated on her employer’s property, was not entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. In a case recently decided by the New Jersey Appellate Court, the plaintiff-worker failed to prove that she was engaged in the normal course of her work with her employer when she sustained her injury.
The plaintiff, Kim Goulding (Kim), was employed as a cook on an hourly basis by the defendant, NJ Friendship House (Friendship House). In September 2017,...
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