Legislation to Require Workers’ Comp and PIP to Cover Costs of Medical Marijuana to Be Considered by the Assembly
Legislation requiring the employer, workers' compensation and PIP insurers to cover the costs of medical marijuana was passed by the NJ Assembly Appropriations Committee on October 26, 2020 and will be considered by the entire Assembly. Assembly Bill No. 1708, sponsored by Assemblyma...
DOT Contractor Entitled to Tort Claims Act Immunity as Defense in Personal Injury Action
Plaintiff Robert Koehler was injured while driving near an overpass on Route 3 in Rutherford, New Jersey when the boom of a bucket truck, which was in tow, struck the overpass, flew off, hit the roof of Plaintiff’s vehicle and entered the sunroof, causing his injury. The overpass was...
COVID-19 and New Disability Obligations
In this space, I have written a couple articles on the need for employers to be aware of accommodation obligations under federal and state disability laws for those employees who are high risk for either COVID-19 exposure or more serious health problems from COVID-19. I want to focus...
Broad Application of Summary Judgment Standard in Plaintiff’s Favor Tests Limits of Premises Liability Claims
Carol Frie was walking from the parking lot toward the mall when she stepped onto the sidewalk from the parking lot surface. While she did not know what element of the sidewalk caused her fall, she stated that it was “unkempt.” In Frie v. Fairlane Village Mall, 2020 Pa. Super. Unpub....
Supreme Court of New Jersey Holds the Products Liability Act Does Not Bar a Consumer Fraud Act Claim Alleging Express Misrepresentations
The Supreme Court of New Jersey recently considered “whether a Consumer Fraud Act (“CFA”) claim can be based, in part or exclusively, on a claim that also might be actionable under the Products Liability Act (“PLA”).” Stated differently, can a CFA claim be maintained where a PLA clai...
Supreme Court Found Question of Fact as to Whether Police Officer Entitled to Qualified Immunity for Shooting of Plaintiff
The plaintiff Bryheim Jamar Baskin claimed that a justifiable police chase ended in an unjustifiable police shooting due to the use of excessive force in violation of the Federal Constitution. The issue decided by the New Jersey Supreme Court in Baskin v. Martinez, 243 N.J. 112 (2020...
A Refresher on Handling Reasonable Accommodations
In this current age of COVID-19, employers are seeing more and more requests from employees seeking a workplace reasonable accommodation. Some of these requests emanate from the employee’s own health condition that increases risks for COVID-19 complications. On the other hand, some em...
Vaccines and the Workplace
Anyone watching the news today has seen report after report about a possible vaccine for the coronavirus and the speedy progress being made towards its development. This vaccine is hoped by many to be the cure all to allow the world to go back to some semblance of the normalcy that e...
Offer Reasonable Accommodations for Students Who are Unable to Wear Face Coverings
Lauren E. Tedesco, Esq., a shareholder in the firm’s School Law Group, was recently interviewed by Special Ed Connection on the topic of accommodations for students who are unable to wear face coverings. To view the PDF version of the article, please click here....
Is the Government Travel Advisory an Enforceable Order?
As most of us know, the Governors of New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut have issued a “travel advisory” indicating that those who travel from certain states must quarantine for a period of 14-days after the last contact with those states. Is this “advisory” an enforceable order? We...
EEOC Clarifies Allowable COVID 19 Testing For Employees
Over the last several months, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) has continued to refine its past issued Guidances on what employers can do to safeguard employees from COVID-19 workplace exposure. One such measure that employers can utilize is mandating that all empl...
Neither County, Nor Board Of Education Held Liable For A Student Injured In Gym Class
Plaintiff Cora Kerton, on behalf of J.R., her minor daughter, filed suit against the County of Hudson and the Board of Education for the Hudson County Schools of Technology, as well as the superintendent and principal of the school, due to an injury that her daughter suffered in gym c...
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.