Municipality Found Not Liable For Fall Due to Uneven Sidewalk
Plaintiff Allan Suarez sued Ridgefield Park for damages resulting from injuries he suffered when he claims to have tripped on an uneven portion of a sidewalk across the street from his home. Ridgefield Park successfully obtained a summary judgment dismissal on the trial court level p...
It’s Abuse (FMLA) I Tell You!
Since the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) was passed back in 1993, employers have frequently worried about one overarching issue: FMLA abuse and fraud. Just recently I had a client ask: what can an employer do when it suspects that an employee is lying about the need fo...
US Department of Labor Announces New Overtime Rules
Just a few years ago, employers were preparing to follow what were to become new overtime rules that were going into effect near the end of the Obama administration. Those rules were sidetracked by an unexpected court ruling that struck the new rules down and declared them to be unen...
Municipality Not Entitled To Weather Or Snow Removal Immunities If Accident Resulted From Other Causes
Plaintiff Barbara Santopietro alleged that she fell on black ice on the roadway in front of her home in the Borough of Union Beach. Her husband Gabriel asserted that whenever it rained, large pools of stagnant water formed in front of their home, which he reported to the Borough. Th...
Snow Removal Contractor Benefits From Hills and Ridges Doctrine
The Superior Court of Pennsylvania has upheld the protections of the “hills and ridges” doctrine as applied to a snow removal contractor. In a recent opinion, dated August 28, 2019 in the case, James M. Hare, Jr. v. Mark Zaffino d/b/a Mark Zaffino Snow Removal, No. 1349 WDA 2018, the...
Mandatory, Non-Binding Arbitration Arrives In New York
On May 14, 2019, the New York State Unified Court System announced that it will begin rollout and implementation of a “presumptive” alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”) program [1], effectively bringing mandatory mediation to the New York System court system by the end of 2019. The...
Recent Appellate Division Opinion Regarding Guidance on Admissibility of Evidence at Trial and Trial Tactics
The Appellate Division on September 12, 2019 rendered an unpublished Opinion on several trial-related issues. The matter is Gomez v. Fritsche, 2019 WL 4313116. This matter arose from a motor vehicle accident. The jury found Defendant 100% negligent for causing an intersectional a...
Court Denies Plaintiff’s Motion for Leave to File Late Notice of Tort Claim Despite Plaintiff’s Medical Issues
On September 26, 2017, Plaintiff Antoinette Marra tripped and fell on the property of defendant Hopatcong Senior Center and Borough of Hopatcong. She suffered a broken arm and fractured hip, which necessitated hip replacement surgery, among other injuries. The issue in Marra v. Hopa...
New Jersey’s Groundbreaking New Wage Anti-Theft Law
In the past, employees who believed that they were not properly paid in line with minimum wage and overtime pay requirements under New Jersey’s wage payment law could either bring a lawsuit in state court or file an administrative claim with the New Jersey Department of Labor to recou...
New Jersey Restricts Pre-Hiring Consideration of Salary History Information
On July 25, 2019, New Jersey became the latest of a growing number of states that now prevent employers from requesting salary history information about applicants as part of the pre-hiring process. The new law bars employers from screening a job applicant based upon an applicant’s s...
Municipality Found Not Liable For Bicyclist Who Suffers Injury When Bike Hit Patch Of Loose Gravel In Roadway
Plaintiff Joanne Green was riding her bicycle in the middle of a street located in defendant Borough of Englewood Cliffs. After making a right hand turn into an intersection, she hit a patch of loose gravel in the middle of the intersection, which caused her to fall off her bike and...
Appellate Division Affirms OPMA Does Not Require BOE to Discuss Proposed Employment Action Prior to Voting
On May 17, 2019, the New Jersey Appellate Division in Centrella v. Prospect Park Board of Education issued an unpublished decision confirming that, under the Open Public Meetings Act (“OPMA”), a public entity is not required to discuss a proposed employment action prior to actually vo...
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.