John H. Geaney
John H. Geaney, a shareholder and co-chair of Capehart Scatchard's Workers' Compensation department, 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 as distributed by NJICLE. If you are interested in purchasing the manual, 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 and is certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a workers’ compensation law attorney. He is one of two firm representatives to the National Workers’ Compensation Defense Network. He has served on the Executive Committee of Capehart Scatchard for over ten (10) years.
A graduate of Holy Cross College summa cum laude, Mr. Geaney obtained his law degree from Boston College Law School. He has been named a “Super Lawyer” by his peers and Law and Politics. He serves as Vice President of the Friends of MEND, the fundraising arm of a local charitable organization devoted to promoting affordable housing.
Capehart Scatchard is a full service law firm with offices in Mt. Laurel and Trenton, 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.
School Bus Driver’s Injury After Cleaning School Bus At Home Was Covered Under Comp
Walesca Benvenutti worked for Scholastic Bus Company as a school bus driver. She drove children to school in the morning and then drove them home in the afternoon. She was required to clean the bus interior and inspect the seatbelts after each run. The testimony of both petitioner and her employer was that there was […]
Department of Labor Provides Intepretation of Standards for Leave to Care for Adult Son or Daughter Under FMLA
Employers should be aware that interpretation of being incapable of self-care and having a disability are very broad. The Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA) is having an impact in other areas of law, specifically the FMLA. A good example concerns the FMLA provision for leave to care for an adult son or daughter […]
Award Affirmed For Mechanic With Longstanding Back Problem Found To Have Been Worsened By Twisting Motion
Edward Kovalcik worked as a maintenance mechanic at Capital Health-Fuld. He was injured in February 2011 while repairing a door. He said that he twisted to pick up a screw and injured his low back. Dr. Lee Buono, a neurosurgeon at the hospital, came to the scene of the injury and observed Kovalcik writhing in […]
Fourth Circuit Holds Pregnant UPS Employee With Lifting Restrictions Was Not Covered Under ADA When Company Prevented Her From Working With Lifting Restriction
Peggy Young worked for United Parcel Services (UPS) as a delivery truck driver. She became pregnant in 2006 and was given a restriction from her doctor indicating that she should not lift more than 20 pounds for the first 20 twenty weeks of her pregnancy and no more than 10 pounds thereafter. Later her midwife reiterated the 20 […]
Employee Who Waited Too Long to Inform Employer of Injury Was Barred From Compensation
Few New Jersey workers’ compensation cases turn on the issue of notice under N.J.S.A. 34:15-17 simply because the New Jersey statute allows up to 90 days in most instances to report a traumatic injury. The case of Ader v. Lebanon Township, A-0383-11T2 (App.Div.March 11, 2013) focused on this section of the law and whether there […]
Does An Employer Owe Temp Benefits In New Jersey If The Employee Cannot Work One Job But Is Still Working Another?
Clients ask about the following scenario frequently: Bob injures his low back working for Company A on January 1, 2013, arising out of and in the course of employment. He earns $400 per week working 20 hours per week. Company A pays temp benefits at $280 per week, and the authorized doctor indicates that Bob […]
Employer Was Correct in Reading FMLA Request Narrowly to Exclude Foot Condition Since the Only Condition Mentioned in the Certification Was the Hand
Many employees seek FMLA leave for more than one medical condition within the same year. This can create difficulties for both employee and employer. It is important to read medical certifications carefully, as is noted in Greer v. Cleveland Clinic Health System – East Region, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 22594 (6th Cir. 2012). The plaintiff […]
Controversial First Responder Bill Would Create Various Presumptions in Favor of Compensability
The New Jersey Assembly is considering a bill which would create presumptions that cancers and other medical conditions experienced by public safety workers are work related. New Jersey already has laws creating presumptions in favor of compensability for firefighters and certain public safety workers in regard to respiratory conditions, heart attacks and strokes. The new […]
Facebook Postings by Employee Doom Her FMLA Claim
Sara Jaszczyszyn worked as a Customer Service Representative for Advantage Health Physician Network. On August 31, 2009, she saw her physician about a recurrence of back pain related to a prior car accident and two prior surgeries. She was unable to work the next day and presented a Work Release Form on September 3, 2009 […]
Can Job Termination Agreements Be Negotiated as Part of Workers’ Compensation Settlements in New Jersey?
There are no published cases dealing with resignation as part of workers’ compensation agreements in New Jersey. Contrary to other states where such resignation agreements are routine, New Jersey employers and carriers seldom negotiate resignation in connection with a workers’ compensation settlement. One main reason this practice does not prevail in New Jersey is that […]
Medicare Smart Act Signed By President Obama
Workers’ compensation practitioners should be aware that President Barack Obama signed the SMART Act on January 10, 2013 (H.R.1845). Just as a side, this bill was attached to a Medicare IVIG Access Bill which has nothing to do with Medicare Conditional Payments. The MSP reforms within this bill are summarized as follows: Section 201 (Conditional […]
New Jersey Adopts McDonnell Douglas Test for Retaliation Claims in Workers’ Compensation
New Jersey is a state with relatively few retaliation law suits arising from workers’ compensation. For that reason, the decision in Peralta v. Joule Staffing Services, Inc., A-1004-11T3, A-1005-11T3 (App. Div. January 3, 2013) is drawing attention from practitioners. Ronald Peralta, a native of Peru, worked as a forklift operator for Joule Staffing Services from […]
City Properly Denied Plaintiff Donated Sick Bank Days Because She Could not Show a Catastrophic Injury as Defined in the Collective Bargaining Agreement
Kelly Queen, plaintiff, worked as a police dispatcher for the City of Bridgeton. On October 16, 2006, she experienced a racing heartbeat and left work. Her family doctor referred her to a cardiologist. He diagnosed her with a mitral valve prolapse condition, which may have been responsible for tachycardia and dyspnea. She also underwent a cardiovascular […]
Owner of Construction Company Was Covered When He Fell and Became Paralyzed While Doing Work on His Own Home
Daniel Cordeiro owned Danny’s Construction Company, which did masonry and concrete work. The company employed eight or nine employees. Cordeiro purchased an investment property in Asbury Park, New Jersey. He listed Danny’s as the repair and renovation general contractor on the construction permits. As general contractor, Danny’s hired plumbing and electrical subcontractors and paid the […]
Transfer to New Job Location for Medical Reasons May be a Reasonable Accommodation Under ADA
Clarice Sanchez worked for the US Forest Service in Lufkin, Texas. She was injured at work falling down a flight of stairs, causing a homonymous hemianopsia — a condition that limited her to 50 percent of the total visual field in each eye. She was unable to see objects to the left line of center […]
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