LAD Arbitration Limitation Struck Down By Federal Court
In 2019, when the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (“LAD”) was amended at the height of the “Me Too” movement, one change made was adding a provision that precluded an employer from requiring an employee to waive their right under the LAD to a jury trial. Most employment law pra...
Borough Found Not Liable For Slip And Fall Injury Due To Alleged Depression In Grassy Area Of Municipal Park
Plaintiff Suzanne Pagonis tripped and fell while walking across a grassy field at the Crestwood Lake Club, which was a recreational lake swimming complex owned by defendant Borough of Allendale and encompassed a municipal park, Crestwood Park. Her daughter had participated earlier in...
Legal Marijuana and New Jersey Employee Rights
On February 22, 2021, Governor Murphy finally signed three bills into law that effectively lay the ground work for legalized use of recreational marijuana in New Jersey. While it could be some time before widespread legalized marijuana is available for purchase as the state establish...
Third-Party Complaint Against Municipality Barred Due To Defendant’s Failure To Timely File A Notice Of Tort Claim
Plaintiff Eartha Butler claims that, on March 18, 2018, she suffered injuries after tripping and falling on a sidewalk adjacent to the defendant Badr’s Jersey City private school (“Badr”). Badr was unaware of plaintiff’s claim until seven months after the accident. At that time, it...
Mental Health in the Legal World
Many Americans are no strangers to having dealt with mental health problems, or knowing someone who has. Even before this past year of uncertainty and isolation, almost 20% of American adults were with a mental illness.[1] Additionally, suicidal ideation has increased by .15% (or over...
Governor Murphy Signs off on New Jersey Cannabis Legalization Bills
It is official, Governor Murphy signed three bills that together legalize cannabis for adults 21 years of age and older, making New Jersey the 13th state to legalize cannabis. On Monday, February 22, 2021, Governor Murphy signed the bills in to law, after both the Senate and Assembly...
New Jersey Supreme Court Orders Virtual Jury Trials to Proceed
After receiving numerous public comments, on January 7, 2021, the New Jersey Supreme Court has ordered that virtual jury trials are to proceed, starting on February 1, 2021. They will be implemented in a two phase approach in a limited number of vicinages on a voluntary basis starting...
When “The Easy Way Out” Isn’t So Easy – Beware of Litigation from Non-Tenured Teachers Who Are Non-Renewed
As a practitioner who has spent most of his legal career as a school board attorney serving as general or labor counsel to boards of education, I address a trend that seems to be on the rise – litigation brought for employment discrimination in the wake of a non-tenured teacher being...
First Aid Squad Responders Found to Be Immune from Liability for Injury Allegedly Caused by Negligent Transport of Patient
Plaintiff Rose Bengel was allegedly injured as a result of medical assistance provided by defendant Holiday City at Berkeley First Aid Squad, Inc. (“the Squad”). The Squad had responded to a 9-1-1 call for medical assistance and transported her to the hospital. The issue in Bengel v....
Ban Parents from School Campuses Only as Last Resort
Lauren E. Tedesco, Esq., a shareholder in the firm’s School Law Group, was recently interviewed by Special Ed Connection on the topic of banning parents from school campuses. To view the PDF version of the article, please click here....
Adult Use Cannabis to be Legal on January 1, 2021. What Happens Now?
On November 3, 2020, the voters of New Jersey approved a referendum legalizing adult/recreational cannabis on January 1st. The NJ Legislature passed S21/A21 yesterday which describes the initial regulatory structure for adult use cannabis licenses, state and municipal taxes on legal m...
COVID-19 and the Holidays
With the holiday season now upon us, there are growing concerns about how the COVID-19 pandemic could worsen because of the expected social gathering activities associated with the holiday season, and how that could impact New Jersey workplaces. The Centers for Disease Control (“CDC”)...
New Jersey Workers' Compensation Manual
John H. Geaney, Esq. publishes a yearly manual aimed on providing practitioners, adjusters and employers with key information on Workers’ Compensation in the State of New Jersey.