John H. Geaney
John H. Geaney, Esq. is a Shareholder and Co-Chair of Capehart Scatchard's Workers' Compensation Group. Mr. Geaney began an email newsletter entitled “Currents in Workers’ Compensation, ADA and FMLA” in 2001 in order to keep clients and readers informed on leading developments in these three areas of law. Since that time he has written over 500 newsletter updates.
Mr. Geaney is the author of Geaney’s New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Manual for Practitioners, Adjusters & Employers. The Manual is distributed by the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education (NJICLE). He also authored an ADA and FMLA Manual also distributed by NJICLE. If you are interested in purchasing “Geaney’s New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Manual for Practitioners, Adjusters & Employers,” please contact NJICLE at 732-214-8500 or visit their website at www.njicle.com.
Mr. Geaney represents employers in the defense of workers’ compensation, ADA and FMLA matters. He is a Fellow of the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers of the American Bar Association. He is one of two firm representatives to the National Workers’ Compensation Defense Network.
A graduate of Holy Cross College summa cum laude, Mr. Geaney obtained his law degree from Boston College Law School.
Mr. Geaney was selected to the “New Jersey Super Lawyer” list (2005-2017, 2021 in the area of Workers’ Compensation). Only 5% of attorneys are selected to “Super Lawyers” through a peer nominated process based on independent research and peer evaluation. The Super Lawyers list is issued by Thomson Reuters. For a description of the “Super Lawyers” selection methodology, please visit https://www.superlawyers.com/about/selection_process.html
For the years 2022-2024 Mr. Geaney was selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® list in the practice area of Workers’ Compensation Law - Employers. The attorneys on this list are selected based upon the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area. A complete description of The Best Lawyers in America® methodology can be viewed via their website at https://www.bestlawyers.com/methodology.
*No aspect of this advertisement has been submitted to or approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.
Capehart Scatchard is a full service law firm with offices in Mt. Laurel and Hamilton, New Jersey. The firm represents employers and businesses in a wide variety of areas, including workers’ compensation, civil litigation, labor, environmental, business, estates and governmental affairs.
Petitioner’s Expert’s Findings in Physical Exam Constituted Objective Evidence to Support Increase on Reopener from 35% to 45%
The New Jersey statute permits claimants who receive an order approving settlement to reopen claims for additional medical, temporary or permanent disability benefits. In Holowchuk v. O’Sullivan Menu Publishing, A-5235-14T3 (App. Div. April 6, 2017), the petitioner, Robert Holowchuk, injured his low back lifting two, five gallon drums of chemicals in 2007. He received an award […]
Employee With Work Injury Was Properly Denied Reasonable Accommodation Request
Kim Mason was injured on March 22, 2011 falling off her UPS delivery truck and injuring her wrist, requiring surgery. She reached maximal medical improvement in October 2011. Several months later she requested accommodations for her wrist disability under the ADA. Her surgeon completed a form which indicated that Mason could not perform all the […]
The Going-And-Coming Rule And Multiple Employer Work Sites
An employee works regularly in Cherry Hill, N.J. but three or four times a year is required to work at the company’s north Jersey location in Parsippany. On the way to the Parsippany office, the employee is in a car accident and suffers serious injuries. The employer gets the claim and confers with the carrier […]
Job Description Of Sales Person Did Not State Driving Was An Essential Function So Jury Must Decide Whether Company Should Accommodate Request for Driver
Employers must carefully view job descriptions because ADA law suits often turn on the wording of those job descriptions. In Stephenson v. Pfizer, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 3863 (4th Cir. 2016), a long-time sales person for Pfizer developed vision problems which disqualified her from driving. Stephenson had been an extremely successful sales representative who had […]
What Impact Will New Jersey’s New Opioid Prescription Bill Have on Workers’ Comp?
On February 15, 2017 Governor Chris Christie signed a new law requiring health insurance coverage for treatment of substance abuse disorders and certain restrictions on the prescription of opioids and other Schedule II drugs. The bill is touted as one of the most aggressive in the nation, and compensation practitioners are asking what will be […]
Court Dismisses Intentional Harm Law Suit Against Employer
Injured workers continue to attempt to sue their employers in civil court for bodily injury no matter how often our courts make clear that such suits are barred unless intentional harm can be proved. For every successful claimant who meets the intentional harm standard, there are thousands whose cases are dismissed on summary judgment. Such […]
Camden Police Department Did Not Violate FMLA By Visiting Officer While on FMLA Leave
The Fraternal Order of Police and certain police officers challenged the City of Camden Police Department for allegedly retaliating against certain officers who complained about city policies. One of the allegations involved the Family and Medical Leave Act. The city initiated a policy called “directed patrols” in 2008. That policy required officers to engage with […]
Carrier Which Failed To Provide 10-Day Statutory Notice Letter Was Permitted To Bring Suit
New Jersey employers know that they have a right to subrogate against the party who caused injury to their employee to recover workers’ compensation benefits paid, but they must wait one year before taking any action. After one year, if the injured worker has not pursued a third party action, the employer must make a […]
Basic Considerations in New Jersey Reopener Claims
Most aspects of the New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Act are considered favorably by employers since the law gives employers the right to control medical care and allows termination of temporary disability benefits and medical benefits at maximal medical improvement. One aspect, however, of New Jersey law invariably frustrates employers: reopener claim petitions. These kinds of […]
Understanding the Mutual Benefit Doctrine in Workers’ Comp
Sometimes activities that would otherwise be non-compensable are covered under the Mutual Benefit Doctrine. That doctrine covers certain activities when there is “a clear and substantial benefit” to the employer by reason of the permitted activity. Daus v. Marble, 270 N.J. Super. 241 (App. Div. 1994). An example might be an injury to an employee when […]
Employee Can Proceed on ADA Claim That He Was Discriminated Against on Account of Severe Obesity
Mark Richardson worked for the Chicago Transit Authority as a Bus Operator from 1999 to 2012. He took an extended medical leave from work and attempted to return to his job in September 2010. The Authority sent plaintiff for a fitness exam, and the doctor cleared Richardson to return to work. He was next required […]
Court Upholds City’s Termination of Worker with Lupus Based on Doctor’s Note Prohibiting Outdoor Work
Jimmy Mathis worked as a laborer for the City of Red Bank in Tennessee. Eventually he rose to the position of Assistant to the Director of Public Works. Initially he would inspect for building code violations, handle animal control problems, oversee street projects and handle citizen requests. A written job description described his duties, which […]
New Jersey Judge of Compensation Orders Employer To Pay Costs Of Medical Marijuana Program And Costs Of Filling Prescriptions
On December 15, 2016, a decision following trial in New Jersey was handed down on the question of whether medical marijuana can be ordered under workers’ compensation. Petitioner Andrew Watson worked for 84 Lumber and was injured on November 6, 2008. He received an award of one third of partial total in 2012 apportioned 50% […]
Misconceptions About IMEs In New Jersey Workers’ Comp
There are a number of misconceptions about the rules on independent medical examinations. Several provisions in the New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Act are helpful in clarifying these misconceptions: Misconception One: An employer must set up an IME in the county where the employee resides. Section 19 states that an IME may be arranged at any […]
Employer Defeats ADA Law Suit For Alleged Improper Requirement of Fitness Examination
Fitness for duty examinations must meet a standard of being job related and consistent with business necessity. If the employer does not have enough to meet this standard, the employer may be sued for discrimination under the ADA for improperly requiring a fitness examination. The employer in Painter v. Illinois Department of Transportation, 2016 U.S. […]
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