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...

Wilson v. Director, Office of Workers Compensation Programs, United States Dep’t of Labor, ___ F.3d ___ (3d Cir. 2020). The final published opinion of the Third Circuit in 2020 was a case in which plaintiff, a maritime construction worker on a project to replace a Route 3 bridge spanning the Passaic River between Clifton and Rutherford, NJ, suffered hearing impairment due to the noise of the construction work. He sought benefits under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, 33 U.S.C. 901 et seq. (“LHWCA”). But the LHWCA affords benefits only if a maritime...

On December 15, 1952, the Supreme Court decided Ward v. Scott, 11 N.J. 117 (1952). Though the municipal law applicable at the time that case was decided has largely been superseded by the Municipal Land Use Law, N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq., Ward has been cited nearly 200 times, according to a Lexis search, including as recently as 2020. The case arose out of a use variance sought for construction of a commercial building with off-street parking. Under the Zoning Act, the statutory scheme in force at that time, R.S. 40:55-39(d), such variance requests came before the Board of Adjustment. But...