New Jersey Injury Lawyers Blog

NJ Police Step Up Efforts to Battle Drunk Drivers

December 28, 2010 | The Victor Rotolo Law Firm

Police across the State have stepped up efforts this holiday season to crack down on drunk drivers. Two recent incidents illustrate just how serious the problem can be.

*Amy Locane, a former “Melrose Place” actress and Hopewell, NJ, resident, was indicted recently on charges of killing a Montgomery Township woman and injuring her husband as a result of a motor vehicle accident in which the actress allegedly was driving under the influence. This accident followed an earlier hit-and-run accident in Princeton, NJ, involving the actress. Locane faces a decades-long prison term if convicted. (1)

*A resident of Freehold, NJ, Samuel Perez Ramirez, pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated in an accident that resulted in the death of his own father, a passenger who was ejected from the vehicle when it struck another car after failing to stop at a stop sign. Ramirez’s blood-alcohol level at the time of the accident was reportedly three times over the legal limit. (2)

Consumers to Benefit from Settlement between Used Car Dealer and State

December 4, 2010 | The Victor Rotolo Law Firm

The State does not look lightly on false advertising and other misleading business practices as at least one New Jersey used car dealer learned recently.

Although it did not admit to any wrongdoing, Global Auto, Inc., based in Elizabeth, NJ, agreed to pay a $140,000 settlement to resolve a lawsuit brought against it by the State’s Attorney General and the Division of Consumer Affairs alleging misleading business practices. (1)

The lawsuit, filed a year ago, alleges that Global Auto, Inc., also known as Auto Collection Group, violated the State’s consumer protection regulations and laws. Among those violations were:

NJ Firm, University Face Discrimination Charges

November 28, 2010 | The Victor Rotolo Law Firm

A class-action suit has been filed against Quest Diagnostics charging the Madison, NJ-based firm with age discrimination practices.

According to the lawsuit, the company restructured its sales force in 2008 and since that time allegedly held its older employees to higher performance standards than its newer, younger workers. The suit alleges that the company held its older sales employees to unachievable quotas and that these quotas were not revised when economic conditions faltered. Instead, according to the suit, regular employee evaluations were conducted. Under-performing employees were put on three-month probation. Employees who could not meet quotas were given 30-days’ notice and, if performance did not improve within that time, the employees were fired. (1)

While only one plaintiff is involved with the suit at this time, at least 40 others have expressed similar experiences. It is up to the court to decide if the suit could be expanded to include more litigants. (1)

Do New Safety Procedures Violate Privacy Rights of Air Travelers?

November 21, 2010 | The Victor Rotolo Law Firm

State lawmakers have joined the growing ranks of people, including civil liberties supporters, pilots, flight attendants, and passengers opposed to the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) new screening procedures, namely the full-body scanners and their alternative – the more aggressive pat-downs.

State Senator Michael J. Doherty (R-23rd District) is one of several local lawmakers who have raised the question of whether these new procedures amount to a violation of Constitutional rights and New Jersey privacy laws. These lawmakers have introduced resolutions asking Congress to look into these concerns. (1)

Full-body scanners have recently been installed and implemented in 70 airports across the country, including Newark Liberty International. (2) The new scanners can see through clothing and produce images that show the contours of passengers’ bodies. The controversy surrounding the scanners deals mostly with the revealing images they produce. Airline passengers who opt not to go through the scanners are subject to more aggressive pat-downs, in which they could be touched in private or sensitive areas. (3)

Essex County to Pay $25,000, Change Policy in Settlement of Religious Discrimination Suit

November 12, 2010 | The Victor Rotolo Law Firm

Essex County will pay $25,000 to a former corrections officer as part of a settlement of a lawsuit claiming the County’s Department of Corrections violated that officer’s religious rights by not allowing her to wear a khimar, a religiously-mandated headscarf. (1)

The U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division filed suit against Essex County in June 2009 alleging that the County’s Department of Corrections violated the religious rights of Yvette Beshier, the Muslim corrections officer, under Title VII when it denied Beshier reasonable religious accommodations that would allow her to wear her headscarf while on duty. Instead, the Department first suspended and then terminated Beshier for violating its uniform policy. (2)

Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects individuals from discrimination due to national origin, sex, race and religious affiliation. (3)

Judge Increases Jury Award to Victim of Snowmobile Accident

November 5, 2010 | The Victor Rotolo Law Firm

In a rare move last week, Morris County Superior Court Judge Robert J. Brennan increased an award granted by a civil jury to a 61-year-old Sparta man who lost his right leg as a result of a 2005 snowmobile accident. (1)

The jury in the product liability case against Yamaha Motor Co., manufacturer of the snowmobile, found in favor of Dennis Mohr and awarded him $1,107,000 for pain and suffering, medical expenses and lost income. Of that amount, $100,000 was specifically awarded for pain and suffering. Mohr’s lawyer argued that amount was inconsistent with the severity of Mohr’s injury and filed a motion for an additur. Judge Brennan agreed, adding $900,000 to the settlement, bringing the total to slightly more than $2 million. (2)

Mohr’s injury occurred in February 2005. When the 1995 Yamaha VX600V-R snowmobile Mohr borrowed from his friend wasn’t running smoothly, Mohr and two friends tried to fix the snowmobile. During the process the metal track on which the snowmobile rides broke and the embedded studs tore into Mohr’s leg, severing it about two-thirds of the way. Doctors’ attempts to save the leg failed and it was amputated right above the knee just days after the accident.

Mount Laurel Woman Injured in Fatal Bus Crash Files Suit

October 27, 2010 | The Victor Rotolo Law Firm

A Mount Laurel woman is seeking more than $50,000 in damages for injuries suffered in a bus crash in which four other passengers, including an 18-year-old New Jersey woman, died. (1) (2)

Twenty-six-year-old Candice Burks sustained serious neck, head and back injuries in the crash which occurred in early September in the Salina suburb of Syracuse, NY. Burks, along with 27 other passengers, was riding the double-decker bus traveling from Philadelphia to Toronto, Canada, when it crashed into a railroad bridge abutment at 2:30 a.m. (1)

According to reports, the bus usually makes a rest stop at the Syracuse depot but, on the night of the accident, the bus wound up on the parkway instead of the road to the depot. Both the depot and the parkway entrance ramp are located at the same exit off Interstate 81. Choosing the wrong direction at the fork intersection would put a vehicle on the parkway a short distance from the bridge. That stretch of road offers no place for a vehicle to pull off or room to turn around. (3)

Former Employee Wins Settlement from Sony over Gay Harassment Charges

October 22, 2010 | The Victor Rotolo Law Firm

A former employee of Sony Music Holdings, Inc. (doing business as Sony DADC) was awarded a $20,000 settlement over claims that he was harassed due to his sexual orientation during his employment at the company’s Gloucester County manufacturing plant. (1)

According to the complaint the employee, Charles E. Morgan, was harassed on a regular basis during his employment as a temporary machine operator for the company. Morgan charged that at least three times during the period from May through August of 2009, he complained to management about the harassment but, he alleged, no action was taken. Instead, Morgan claimed, he was not promoted to a permanent, full-time position and, in August 2009, was given a three-day suspension because of his complaints. It was around that time that Morgan filed a complaint with New Jersey’s Department of Law and Public Safety’s Division on Civil Rights. Shortly thereafter he was terminated by Sony. (2)

Under the settlement agreement, Sony did not admit to any misconduct. Instead, the company claimed that its management did look into and attempt to resolve Morgan’s complaints. In fact, Sony said in one instance it transferred an employee out of Morgan’s department following his complaint that the employee had lectured him about his homosexuality. (1)

Jury Finds Emergency Responders Took Too Long, Awards $8.7 Million to Injured Motorist

October 16, 2010 | The Victor Rotolo Law Firm

A civil jury this week found that emergency responders took too long to arrive at a multi-car accident scene on the Atlantic City Expressway despite multiple 9-1-1 calls and awarded $8.7 million to a Mays Landing woman who lost her leg in that accident. (1)

The accident occurred on December 4, 2005. The woman, Janet Henebema, was returning home from her job at an Atlantic City casino when she hit a patch of black ice. Two other cars had hit the same ice patch earlier, causing them to crash into a barrier. Ms. Henebema was able to slow her car down, but the car still crashed into one of the disabled cars. When Henebema left her vehicle to walk to the shoulder of the road, she was struck by yet another car that hit the same ice patch. Ms. Henebema’s leg was severed as a result. (2)

In the civil trial it was discovered that the first accidents occurred more than one half-hour before Ms. Henebema’s car crashed and at least eight phone calls were made to 9-1-1 reporting the accidents. (3)

State Lawmakers Take Steps to Curb Privacy Invasion, Cyber-bullying

October 7, 2010 | The Victor Rotolo Law Firm

New Jersey lawmakers are seeking stronger penalties for harassment crimes, including invasion of privacy and cyber-bullying in an effort to curb these violations.

This action is partially in response to the recent incident at Rutgers University where Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei, two students, allegedly videoed a third student, Tyler Clementi, in an intimate encounter and streamed it live over the internet. Clementi later took his own life. Ravi as well as Wei face charges of invasion of privacy, currently a third degree offense. These charges carry a penalty of up to three to five years in jail and/or a fine of up to $15,000. (1)

Senator Shirley K. Turner, a Democrat from Mercer County, has proposed legislation that would elevate invasion of privacy to a second degree offense. As such, it would carry a prison term of up to five to ten years and/or a fine of up to $150,000. The increased jail time, she hopes, would deter similar crimes from happening in the future. (2)