Neither Township, nor County Found Liable for Fatal Pedestrian Accident Due to Plaintiff’s Failure to Prove Roadway in a Dangerous Condition
Plaintiff’s Decedent Amelia Cius was crossing the roadway at 9:30 pm when she was fatally struck by a car on Whitehorse-Mercerville Road. The driver of the car explained that he did not see the decedent because she was wearing dark clothing. She was not in the crosswalk while crossing...
New Jersey Bans Hair Discrimination
On December 19, 2019, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed into law a bill which now makes it illegal to discriminate based upon hairstyles associated with race. The law, known as the “Create a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair Act” or “CROWN” for short, amends the New...
Recent Appellate Division Opinion Regarding Spoliation Claim
The Appellate Division on November 27, 2019 rendered an unpublished Opinion on the issue of alleged spoliation of evidence. The matter is Promise v. Khubani Enterprises, Inc., 2019 WL 6353644 (App. Div. Nov. 27, 2019). In July of 2014, Plaintiff Betty Promise was reportedly seated...
Appellate Division Holds Property Owner Who Did Not Create Alleged Sidewalk Defect Entitled To Summary Judgment
In Claro v. 323 Firehouse, LLC, 2019 NY Slip Op 07970 (3d Dept 2019), the Plaintiff allegedly injured her left shoulder when she tripped and fell on a raised concrete sidewalk slab. At the time of the accident, she was walking towards a diner that was owned by one of the defendants....
A Property Owner Is Absolved Of Liability For Fire Damage To A Neighbor’s Property Caused By A Criminal Arson
In Wakil v. Birdie Properties, LLC, No. 2018-C-1674 (Lehigh County September 11, 2019), the Court of Common Pleas of Lehigh County recently granted a defendant’s motion for summary judgment in a case involving purported arson and subsequent fire damage. Plaintiff alleged that his pro...
Municipality Found Not Liable For Pedestrian Accident Due To Tort Claims Act Sign Immunity
Plaintiff, Alexander Ferris, at age 13 was injured when struck by a car driven by defendant Aida Blanco-Alquacil as he crossed the road in the crosswalk at an intersection in the Borough of Middlesex. His parents filed a lawsuit, alleging negligence by the defendant driver, as well a...
Employer Social Media Searches-Beware Of What You Wish For!
Thanks to the internet, employers have access to more and more information about their employees and prospective employees than ever before. And most employers love that so much information is now available to them to guide their hiring practices. Recently, I have gotten multiple q...
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...
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.