Blog

June 13, 2014

The summer is officially less than two weeks away and yet there have already been at least nine children who have died after being left alone in a hot car. If you follow the trends set in recent years past, that number is surely to rise, according to the National Safety Council. Since 1998, according to research by San Francisco State University’s Department of Geosciences, there have been an estimated 615 heatstroke deaths suffered by children left in hot cars. That’s an average of 38 deaths per year, with more than half of the children dying under age two.

June 5, 2014

One hundred NJ police departments that bought defective bulletproof vests are about to receive a share of $173,780, stemming from a manufacturer who filed for bankruptcy a decade ago. Many years before Second Chance Body Armor Inc. went out of business and declared bankruptcy, their Zylon-based vests were said to “have the potential to put police officers’ lives at risk,” according to NJ Acting Attorney General John J Hoffman. The divisions of Law and Consumer Affairs obtained an order from U.S. Bankruptcy Court in  August 2013 for the distribution of funds. They have recently received a payment and…

May 29, 2014

When you make the decision to retain an attorney, it’s most likely because you’ve gotten into a legal situation you can’t handle on your own. How do you know that your lawyer performed their duties to the best of their abilities? What do you do if you think they have made your situation worse instead of better? People who hire a lawyer have a right to expect a reasonable standard of care commonly associated with others who practice law. If your lawyer performs at a level lower than that, you may have a case of legal…

May 22, 2014

NJ high school and college interns as well as other young aspiring professionals working in New York City will now have the same anti-discrimination and harassment protections as all employees. On April 15, New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio signed a bill protecting unpaid interns in NYC from sexual harassment and workplace discrimination. This was a clarification of the law, spurred by the case of Lihuan Wang. Wang was a former unpaid intern for Phoenix Satellite Television. She sued after allegedly being harassed by her supervisor. However, her case was thrown out by Judge Kevin Castel, who said…

May 15, 2014

If you’re one of the thousands of New Jersey residents who are unemployed and still looking for a job, the State Senate delivered you some good news on Monday, May 12. A bill prohibiting employers from using employment status as a condition of hiring passed through the state senate, 23-13, moving it on to the Assembly. Under bill-S1440, employers would be permitted to inquire about potential employees’ work history and why they were fired or left the job, but it cannot factor into their hiring decision. Employers would also be allowed to limit job searches to…

May 8, 2014

A Woodbridge personal injury law firm has been thrust into the news after it fired an employee who suffered a panic attack during lunch. Now the woman, Laura Springvloed, is suing her former employers for lost wages, court fees, attorneys’ fees, compensatory damages, consequential damages, and punitive damages. According to the lawsuit, Springvloed claims she had anxiety problems which worsened following a surgery to remove a mass from her breast. On Feb. 22, 2013, she suffered a panic attack during lunch. She texted her boss, saying: “I’m not coming back. I’m physically shaking and suffering inside.

April 29, 2014

As the weather warms up around the country, construction projects will begin to pop up all over, and with that comes an increased threat of injuries. Working on a construction site is one of the most dangerous occupations in the country, with thousands of injuries every year, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The fatal injury rate for the construction industry is higher than the national average and it’s because of the inherent nature of the business. Construction workers are in danger of falls, trench and scaffolding collapses, electrocution, repetitive motion injuries and caught…

April 17, 2014

A case in New Jersey involving a man’s use of medical marijuana and his job’s decision to make him enroll in drug rehab is one of, if not the first of its kind in the state. As marijuana reform slowly makes its way around the country, these types of cases will likely become more common place. Charlie Davis was prescribed medical marijuana to treat his end-stage renal failure. After failing a drug test for NJ Transit, he was suspended and told that he could not work for the company until completing a drug rehab program. He…

April 10, 2014

New Jersey Republican Assemblyman Ronald Dancer is challenging an interpretation of the state’s misuse of headlights law by invoking first amendment rights. Dancer says that it should be legal for a vehicle operator to flash an oncoming driver to warn of a speed trap, claiming it’s freedom of speech. Technically speaking, based on precedent set in a 1999 case, it is already legal to flash warning lights to oncoming drivers in New Jersey. However, because of instances where the law has been misinterpreted, Dancer thinks it needs to be spelled out a little more. The Ocean County Assemblyman…

April 3, 2014

Employers in the Tri-State Area can breathe a sigh of relief. Based on data compiled by Hiscox, an international small business insurance company, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are not at the top of the list of the riskiest states for employee lawsuits. Based on the study, U.S. businesses with at least 10 employees have a 12.5 percent chance to have an employment liability lawsuit filed against them. However, there were multiple states with a much higher probability than that. We have offices by appointment in Elizabeth-New Brunswick-West New York-Plainfield-Edison-Perth Amboy-Newark-Jersey City-Orange-Westfield-and Summit New Jersey…