Branch v. Cream-O-Land Dairy, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). As summarized here, the Appellate Division in this overtime Wage and Hour Law (“WHL”) class action case reversed a summary judgment ruling for the defense, holding that the statute’s “good faith defense” was not available to defendant. Today, in a unanimous opinion by Justice Patterson, the Supreme Court affirmed that decision. The Court’s decision was based on the plain language of the statute. As Justice Patterson summarized, to invoke the good faith defense, an employer must “‘plead[] and...

Clark v. Nenna, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2020). After plaintiff broke his femur during a physical therapy session, he had surgery that stabilized his bone using screws and washers. The screw heads caused him discomfort, so he had another surgery, performed by defendant, to remove the screws. Defendant did that successfully. But defendant could not remove the washers because they were “embedded in scar tissue that had developed around the hardware.” Defendant decided to leave the washers where they were because removing them would have required a larger incision and would...

As 2005 neared its close, the Supreme Court decided Tonelli v. Wyckoff Tp. Bd. of Educ., 185 N.J. 438 (2005), on December 28 of that year. The case arose when plaintiff Virginia Tonelli, after watching her granddaughter play soccer on a school field owned by the defendant school board, tripped over a speed the school’s parking lot on the way back to her car. She fractured her hip and later died as a result of complications from her injuries. Her husband sued the Board for negligently creating and maintaining the speed bump. Asserting that it was a non-profit entity organized...