Reading Room

The consensus that usually prevails when the New Jersey Supreme Court decides workers’ compensation claims has shattered this term when the Court dealt with an issue that could affect the ongoing school funding controversy.

The New Jersey Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, ruled that claims of workplace sexual harassment, when the harassment results in bodily injury, could not be excluded by insurance carriers under the employer's liability section of a workers' compensation policy. Lisa Schmidt filed a claim against her employer, Personalized Audio Visual, Inc., and against the president of the company.

In reviewing numerous medical records, including orthopedic and physical therapy reports, it is common to find mention of "The Waddell Test" and extensive reporting of examination findings featuring the results of its component maneuvers. These comments will review the testing as it was originally described in its proper clinical application. Finally, some insights that can be used to cross-examine expert witnesses who feature the Waddell test in their testimony will be discussed.

In a decision that focuses attention on the risk of harm to reproductive systems caused by exposure to toxins in the workplace, a state appeals court has ordered a judge to award compensation to an industrial employee for sterility, even though the condition did not affect his ability to work. Workers’ Compensation Judge Melvin Shteir had ruled that Ahmed Akef, a chemical worker at a BASF Corp. plant in Middlesex County, suffered no loss "in the workers’ compensation.

This was the year that the Court mandated that workers’ compensation actions must comply with specific evidentiary and jurisdictional standards. In a series of cases, the New Jersey Supreme Court highlighted the necessity of strict adherence to the requirements of the Law for those practicing before the Division of Workers’ Compensation. 

The NJ Supreme Court has ruled that employees have 90 days to notify their employers after the diagnosis of an occupational disease. A claim for workers’ compensation benefits may be barred if the employee fails to notify his employer.

An employee fell from a narrow, eighteen-foot-high scaffold in the course of assembling a sheet metal roof. Even though there was evidence admitted at the trial that he had consumed a gallon and a half of hard alcohol, drank two beers that day, and had a grossly elevated blood alcohol level of .29%, the accident was held compensable. 

The State of New Jersey recently adopted new Administrative Rules which appear to be the most sweeping reform of the NJ Workers' Compensation system in the last 17 tears. The rules address substantive and procedural aspects that may result in a detrimental effect upon the rights of many litigants. The Rules were adopted on March 3, 1997 with the support of business and the insurance company lobbying teams.

The 1996 court term set forth standards for occupational disease claims, defined defenses available, provided interpretation regarding third-party liens, further defined standards to be utilized in the presentation of evidence, and set forth parameters concerning the nature and extent of disability under the Workers' Compensation Act. 

In a decision that could open the doors to lawsuits by employees harmed by exposure to secondhand smoke or other indirect hazards in the workplace, an appeals court Tuesday upheld benefits for a West Milford custodian who died of cancer after exposure to asbestos in a school.In a decision that could open the doors to lawsuits by employees harmed by exposure to secondhand smoke or other indirect hazards in the workplace, an appeals court Tuesday upheld benefits for a West Milford custodian who died of cancer after exposure to asbestos in a school.  

In several landmark cases the New Jersey Supreme Court redefined the parameters of the Workers' Compensation Act as it applies to occupational illness, scientific evidence, the standard of proof to determine permanency, apportionment of responsibility, exclusivity of remedy and off-premises liability. These areas of the law are also the focus of various New Jersey Appellate Division case decisions as well as several federal court rulings. Some of the decisions rendered by the Supreme Court were the most significant rulings in the history of workers' compensation case law.