Hager v. M&K Construction, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). As discussed here, the Appellate Division in this case affirmed the decision of a Workers Compensation judge that the defendant employer was obligated to reimburse the plaintiff employee for the employee’s use of medical marijuana prescribed for chronic pain caused by a work-related accident. The Appellate Division rejected arguments by the employer that, among other things, the federal Controlled Substances Act 21 U.S.C. § 841 (“CSA”), which makes it a crime to manufacture, possess or distribute marijuana, preempts the...

Hamer v. Livanova Deustschland GMBH, ____ F.3d ___ (3d Cir. 2021). This appeal involved one of many cases comprising MDL 2816, which is venued in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. The MDL consolidated cases in which plaintiffs allegedly contracted an infection called a non-tuberculosis mycobacterium (“NTM”), after having had surgery using defendant’s 3T Heater-Cooler system. The MDL court entered a case management order that required each plaintiff to demonstrate “proof of NTM infection” through “positive bacterial culture...

Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC v. Township of Neptune, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). Prudent practitioners who file cases under the Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. (“OPRA”), include an alternative claim under the common law right of access. That latter claim is not a mere sideshow. Today, the Appellate Division, speaking through Judge Yannotti, addressed a case where plaintiff (doing business as the Asbury Park Press) lost the argument under OPRA but won access under the common law. The panel then, however, denied plaintiff attorneys’...