In an unpublished decision, New Jersey’s Appellate Division recently affirmed a trial court’s decision in the matter of Hurtado v. Wilkins, 2019 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 1017 (App. Div. of N.J., Decided May 3, 2019), granting the defendant’s motion to dismiss the plaintiff’s motor vehicle plaintiff’s negligence claim on the grounds that the plaintiff failed to maintain medical expense benefits coverage, as required by N.J.S.A.§ 39:6A-4.5(a).N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4.5(a) provides that any person who is injured in an automobile accident while operating a vehicle cannot recover damages as a result of the accident if that person does not have medical expense benefits coverage at the time of the accident.

In the case of Frances Green v. Monmouth University, A-63-17, Decided May 7, 2019, the New Jersey Supreme Court affirmed Monmouth University’s entitlement to charitable immunity in the face of a personal injury lawsuit filed by a non-student.

On April 4, 2019 the Appellate Division issued an opinion reaffirming that obesity alone does not constitute a disability under New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination (“LAD”), N.J.S.A. 10:5-1, et seq., in Corey Dickson v. Community Bus Lines, Inc., et al. Plaintiff, Corey Dickson, filed a lawsuit against his former employer, Community Bus Lines, Inc., asserting various causes of action, including a hostile work environment claim under the LAD, after he was temporarily disqualified from his position as a bus driver due to medical issues stemming from his weight.

The New Jersey Appellate Division, in an unpublished opinion, affirmed a trial court’s determination that Plaintiff demonstrated extraordinary circumstances sufficient to warrant her late filing of a tort claim notice. Ordinarily, a plaintiff who wishes to bring a claim against a public entity in New Jersey must put that entity on notice of the claim within ninety (90) days of the date of its accrual.

The Appellate Division recently reversed a trial court’s order certifying a class action claim against a health club chain. Plaintiffs filed a class action, alleging that an exculpatory clause in defendant's health club membership agreement violated the Truth-in-Consumer Contract, Warranty and Notice Act (TCCWNA), N.J.S.A. 56:12-14 to -18.

After a brief deliberation, a St. Louis city jury found Ford Motor Company not liable for the death of a shade-tree auto mechanic who allegedly used Ford asbestos-containing brakes and later developed mesothelioma.

In Jane Jones v. Pi Kappa Alpha International Fraternity, Inc.; No. 17-3272, (3d Cir. April 1, 2019), the Third Circuit held that Ramapo College of New Jersey and several of its officers were entitled to sovereign immunity in their official capacities, and that the officers were entitled to qualified immunity for certain counts of the complaints.

In a landmark opinion, the New Jersey Supreme Court put to rest a longstanding dispute concerning what measure of economic damages an injured motorist could recover, when that plaintiff opted for a policy of automobile insurance, under which they elected to purchase smaller amounts of personal injury protection (PIP) benefits than the default $250,000 policy limits.

New Jersey’s Appellate Division reversed a trial court’s dismissal of a Law Against Discrimination (“LAD”) claim that was premised on an employer’s failure to accommodate an employee’s off-site medical marijuana use.

The New Jersey Appellate Division, in an unpublished opinion, re-affirmed established New Jersey law that a landowner is under no duty to protect an employee of an independent contractor from the very hazard created by the contract absent the landowner’s retention of control over the manner and means by which the work is to be performed or where the work constitutes a nuisance per se or where one knowingly engages an incompetent contractor.