Employee Can Be Fired for Reasons Discovered While on FMLA Leave
Adesina Mercer worked for the Arc of Prince George County from 2004 to 2011. Her job included applying for and processing initial applications for benefits for Food Stamps and Social Security. In May 2007, The Arc put Mercer on conditional employment status due to poor work performance. She was returned to regular status the next […]
Volunteer Firefighters May Be Employees under FMLA
The City of Gibraltar employed 41 employees, excluding its “volunteer” firefighters. When it fired one of the firefighters, Paul Mendel, he sued under the FMLA. The city countered that it was not covered under the FMLA because it had less than 50 employees. There were 25-30 “volunteer firefighters” whom the City contended were not truly […]
Eighteen-Foot Fall from Ladder Did Not Aggravate Preexisting Back Condition
Remi Beausejour had problems with his lower back dating back to 2006, when he injured his back at work. He had pain in his back, and down through his right leg. An MRI showed degenerative disc disease and a disc herniation at L3-4 and L4-5 levels. He also experienced radiculopathy at the time, and was […]
Compensability Determination Comes Down to a Measurement in Harrah’s Premises Claim
The premises rule in New Jersey states that employees are covered when they are on property owned or controlled by the employer. How far can this be stretched? When a car accident occurs on a public street with only part of the car touching the employer’s premises, is an injury still covered under the New […]
Employee Who Entered Drug Rehab Program Was Not Automatically Protected from Adverse Employment Action When He Left the Program Early
Bryan Shirley worked for Wyman-Gordon Forgings, L.P. (“W-G”) as an operator of the largest extrusion press in the world. Company policy required that any employee who should develop a problem with drugs or alcohol must confidentially inform the HR manager in order to pursue treatment. Failure to comply with treatment could subject the employee to […]
Division of Workers’ Comp Best Forum to Decide Employment Issue on Home Aide Tragically Killed in Car Accident
Saul Liebman was living alone after the recent death of his wife in September 2008. At the time he was 81 years old. His daughter made inquiries to find someone who could move into her father’s home and take care of him, including cooking meals and assisting in daily activities. Myroslava Kotsovska, a 59-year-old Ukrainian […]
Employee Cannot Sue Fellow Employee Even If the Conduct Causing Injury Bordered on Criminal Negligence
What if the conduct of an employee during the course of employment is found to be so reckless as to be potentially criminal? Does that permit an injured co-employee to sue his or her fellow employee in civil court for intentional harm? That was the issue addressed in Morales v. Christopher S. Schneider, A-0862-12T4 (App. […]
Petitioner Prevails in Alleged Traumatic Injury Claim Even Though Pleadings Were Filed as Occupational In Nature
It is not uncommon for a claimant to file an occupational disease claim but then at trial attempt to prove a case that is much more like a traumatic injury claim. The reverse is also sometimes true. How do courts treat these shifting proofs? In Rivera v. United Parcel Service, the claimant began with UPS […]
Appellate Division Reverses Award to Petitioner in Occupational Pulmonary Case
Anthony DiFabrizio worked for US Airways since 1985 at both Newark Airport and LaGuardia Airport. At Newark Airport he loaded and unloaded baggage from planes, trucks and conveyor belts, as well as driving equipment to push back planes from ramp areas. At LaGuardia he worked from 1995 to 2008 doing similar work. He also worked […]
New Ligament in Knee May Be Cause of Complications Post-Surgery
By Ian Zolty, Esq. Have you ever heard of the anterolateral ligament? If you have not, don’t feel bad because almost no one was aware of it until recent months. The research of two orthopedic surgeons, Dr. Steven Claes and Dr. Johan Bellemans from University Hospitals Leuven in Belgium, may be breaking new ground in […]
Appellate Division Appears To Upend Established Case Law On Medical Liens In Workers’ Comp Car Accident Cases
In one of the most puzzling decisions in decades dealing with N.J.S.A. 34:15-40, the court in Dever v. New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Company, 2013 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 2553, (App. Div. October 23, 2013) ruled that respondent has no lien on the medical portion of a third party claim against a UM or UIM carrier. […]
Woman Who Cleaned Medical Office Was Employed by Both Father and Son Physicians and Could Not Sue Either for Negligence
June Chalmers worked at a medical office, cleaning the office space with another colleague. On August 20, 2010, she fell on a piece of pipe while at work and suffered injuries which led to serious infections. Chalmers did not file a workers’ compensation claim and obtained treatment on her own. However, she did file a […]
Delays Doom Continental Employee’s Workers’ Comp Claim
Smile Alvarez worked as an International Service Manager for Continental Airlines. He flew to Quito, Ecuador on October 21, 2001 and went to check his door to make sure it was in the disarm position. On entering the airplane’s galley, he tripped and did a near somersault, striking his head, shoulders and neck on the […]
Employer Is Entitled to Reimbursement of Lien Even If Comp Case Is Ultimately Found Not Compensable
New Jersey has a very powerful subrogation provision. That message was emphasized in Greene v. AIG Casualty Company, A-6287-11T4 (App.Div. October 16, 2013), a published decision rendered by the Appellate Division. It does not matter that the compensation case is ultimately found non-compensable: the employer still can enforce its lien rights as to prior payments […]
Intentional Harm Suit in Death Case Rejected as Barred by the Exclusivity Provision in Workers’ Compensation
Once again a plaintiff has failed to get past the exclusivity provision in the New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Act. In Estate of Samuel Sellino and Phyllis Sellino v. Pinto Brothers Disposal, LLC., A-2064-12T1 (App. Div. September 23, 2013), the Appellate Division considered whether an employer could be sued for allegedly removing or bypassing a neutral […]
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