Appellate Court Affirms City’s Termination Of Police Officer For Failing To Take Drug Test And Dismisses Workers’ Compensation Retaliation Claim
John Lance, a police officer for the City of Camden, New Jersey, was injured on May 10, 2004 in a work-related motor vehicle accident. He received medical and temporary disability benefits in workers’ compensation. However, he alleged that his workers’ compensation benefits were improperly terminated in October 2005. On June 12, 2004, about a month […]
Door Remains Closed On All But The Most Egregious Suits For Intentional Harm In New Jersey
It is certainly not for lack of trying that plaintiffs remain largely unsuccessful in opening the door to intentional harm claims in New Jersey. The door has remained closed in the past 10 years on intentional harm claims and all but locked, including the most recent challenge in Fendt v. Adam L. Abrahams, et. al., […]
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 […]
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