New Jersey

New Jersey Appellate Division Permits a Driver and Employer’s Determination of Improper Actions as Admissible Evidence

In Hassan v. Williams, the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey found that a trial court improperly excluded multiple documents, including the determination letter written by an employer that its driver acted improperly, as well as the letter written by that driver about his own conduct. At the trial level, these documents were excluded as the Court held they went to the...Read More

You’re Fired! Court Weighs Admissibility Of Termination Letter (NJ)

In Hassan v. Williams and ABF Freight, Inc., the plaintiff truck driver was injured when his tractor trailer was rear-ended by the tractor driven by defendant Roland Williams. Plaintiff brought suit alleging negligence and negligence per se for his injuries. Defendants argued that plaintiff merged onto the highway from the entrance at a slow speed cutting in front of defendant. Following...Read More

Blunt Talk: NJ Supreme Court Holds that a Workers Compensation Carrier Must Pay for an Injured Worker’s Medical Marijuana (NJ)

The New Jersey Supreme Court recently issued a lengthy opinion holding that New Jersey’s Jake Honig Compassionate Use Medical Cannabis Act was not preempted by Federal law and that a workers compensation carrier must pay for an injured worker’s medical marijuana. By way of background, the matter of Vincent Hager v. M&K Construction arose out of a back injury sustained by Hager while...Read More

Late Notice of Tort Claim Approved? Not So Fast (NJ)

In New Jersey, a plaintiff sought to file a late notice of tort claim identifying a police officer that she claimed was responsible for her injuries. The plaintiff in Pagan v. Rivera sought help from the police department when she was threatened by a former boyfriend in violation of an Order of protection. Despite plaintiff’s concerns that the former boyfriend could be hiding in her apartment,...Read More

Piano Lawsuit Dismissed – Music to the Defense’s Ears (NJ)

What do you do when the very experienced piano movers that you hired are unable to move the piano on your property? In a recent New Jersey case, the defendants were faced with that dilemma after the plaintiff was unsuccessful at moving a piano down the home’s stairwell. In Barbato v. Gallagher, the defendant homeowners noted that the piano had been moved into the home by utilizing the back...Read More

Joyride Fails to Bring Joy to Injured Passenger (NJ)

New Jersey motorist Sheavonra Adderly was involved in a one-car collision that caused injury to one of her passengers. That passenger sought coverage under the vehicle’s insurance policy issued by Liberty Mutual. However, Adderly was not the owner of the vehicle involved in the accident, and the policy excluded coverage if a person drives the covered vehicle without a reasonable belief...Read More

NJ Supreme Court Holds that NJ Transit is held to Heightened Duty of Care to its Passengers

On February 17, 2021, the New Jersey Supreme Court in Maison v. New Jersey Transit Corporation held that NJ Transit, which is a public common carrier of passengers, is held to the same heightened duty of care regulating private carriers. By way of background, the case involved a young woman whose forehead was severely injured after teenage passengers threw a bottle at her face. The teenagers...Read More

NJ Court Finds That Endorsement Limiting Scope of “Coverage Territory” Governs

The interplay between various endorsements in a policy is not always clear. This is especially the case where multiple endorsements state they are “replacing” the same provisions. A New Jersey federal judge rejected an attempt by an insured to expand coverage beyond the scope of the policy’s plain terms. In so doing, the court reaffirmed that a policy endorsement’s restriction of coverage to a...Read More

Read it and Weep: Plaintiff’s Case Against Insurer Dismissed for Failure to Understand the Insurance Policy (NJ)

In Giselle Polizzi v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey case gave a lesson in policy interpretation following a dispute over an automobile policy. In this case, Giselle Polizzi (“Polizzi”) was injured in a car accident with an underinsured motorist while borrowing her parents’ vehicle. Due to language in an endorsement within...Read More

District of NJ Denies Insurer’s Attempt to Dismiss Claims for Sexual Abuse Coverage

In School Excess Liability Joint Ins. Fund v. Illinois Union Ins. Co., the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey recently considered whether the plaintiffs, School Excess Liability Joint Insurance Fund (“SEL”), Diploma Joint Insurance Fund (“Diploma”), and School Alliance Insurance Fund’s (“SAIF”) sufficiently pled that they have incurred losses that eroded their retained...Read More