By Donald Scarinci In Caraballo v. City of Jersey City, (A-71-17/080467) (Decided March 29, 2019), the Supreme Court of New Jersey held that police detective Frank Caraballo’s failure to utilize the New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Act’s (Act) administrative remedies to obtain knee replacement surgery precluded his failure-to-accommodate claim under the
In State v. Hester, A-91-16/079228 (Decided May 30, 2018),the Supreme Court of New Jersey struck down 2014 amendments to the Violent Predator Incapacitation Act (VPIA), which is part of Megan’s Law. The state’s highest court found that the amendments violated the Ex Post Facto Clauses of the U.S. and New
In Alexandra Rodriguez v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., No. A-2/3-17/079470 (March 4, 2019), the New Jersey Supreme Court held that the admissibility of medical expert testimony using terms such as “somatization” and “symptom magnification” must be determined by trial courts on a case-by-case basis, consistent with the New Jersey Rules of Evidence
In In re Accutane Litigation, No. 079958, 2018 WL 3636867 (Decided Aug. 1, 2018), the Supreme Court of New Jersey provided much-needed clarity regarding the admissibility of scientific evidence under the New Jersey Rules of Evidence. Although the state’s highest court stopped short of declaring New Jersey a “Daubert jurisdiction,”
In State v. Eileen Cassidy, (A-58-16/078390) (Decided November 13, 2018), the Supreme Court of New Jersey held that breath test results produced by Alcotest machines not calibrated using a NIST-traceable thermometer are inadmissible. The decision called into question thousands of convictions for driving while intoxicated (DWI). Facts of State v.
In All the Way Towing, LLC v. Bucks County Int’l, Inc., (A066/67-17) (Decided January 24, 2019), the Supreme Court of New Jersey held that the Consumer Fraud Act’s (CFA) definition of “merchandise” should be liberally construed. It went on to hold that the definition extends to a customized tow truck.
In Kocanowski v. Township of Bridgewater, (A-55-17/080510) (Decided February 19, 2019), the Supreme Court of New Jersey held that the lack of outside employment did not disqualify a volunteer firefighter from receiving disability benefits. According to the court, N.J.S.A. 34:15-75 authorizes all volunteer firefighters injured in the course of performing
In State v. Chisum (decided February 5, 2019) the Supreme Court of New Jersey held that police officers lacked a reasonable suspicion to justify detaining 10 party guests in a motel room after concluding their investigation of a noise complaint. Accordingly, the weapons they discovered during the investigatory detention were
