News & Blog

Workers compensation is a necessity amongst most businesses, but with a non-profit charity job this sometimes may not be the case. Have you heard the expression, “no good deed goes unpunished”? Well, that was almost the case for one New Jersey woman. In Goulding v. NJ Friendship House, Inc., the Plaintiff, a cook and teacher […]

  Even before the current COVID crisis, most employees were afforded some protections by their employer. For example, the New Jersey Family Leave Act (NJFLA), coupled with the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), entitles certain employees to twelve weeks of paid leave within a twelve-month period without losing their jobs. However, aside from […]

Recently, the New Jersey Supreme Court expressly determined that Workers’ Compensation benefits are to work synergistically with Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits that are required of all New Jersey automobile insurance policies by New Jersey’s Automobile Insurance Cost Reduction Act (AICRA). Workers’ Compensation is often considered an “exclusive remedy” for injuries sustained while acting in […]

A Plaintiff who recently received a workers’ compensation award saw his judgment vacated on appeal because the trial judge did not make any witness credibility findings or apply his factual findings to the appropriate law. In that case, the Appellate Division stressed the importance of analyzing 12 factors when determining whether an employment relationship exists […]

A pregnant police officer who challenged her employer’s maternity standard operating procedure (SOP) will be able to proceed with her lawsuit after the New Jersey Appellate Division reversed summary judgment for her employer. At the heart of the claim was a provision of the SOP that required pregnant officers to use all of their accumulated […]

A petitioner in a workers’ compensation case who argued for total disability under New Jersey’s odd-lot doctrine, lost when the judge found that both her and her expert witness to not be credible. On appeal, the Appellate Division affirmed the decision out of deference to the workers’ compensation judge. In this case, the petitioner, Floralba […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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) […]

            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 […]

James Riconda worked for US Foods, Inc. as a warehouse selector for about two years before he was fired. A few days prior to his termination, Riconda became ill and exhibited symptoms of the stomach flu. Riconda informed his supervisor, who allowed him to take a break, but his symptoms continued to worsen. At the […]

While it is true that injured workers in New Jersey have limited options to pursue claims against their employer, there may be the opportunity to pursue claims against a third-party who had a duty towards the worker but failed to carry out that duty. In a recent New Jersey Appellate Division case, Austin v. Morris […]

In the recent New Jersey Appellate Division case of Bove v. AkPharma, the Court prohibited an employee from suing his employer at common law for injuries allegedly sustained by testing an experimental nasal spray on himself at work.  The New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Act (“WCA”) compensates employees for injuries that occur at work.  However, the […]