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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)

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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.

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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)

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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)

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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)

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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)

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Concussions, if not properly managed, can have serious long-term effects and, in the most severe cases, can even result in death. On September 30, 2010, the House of Representatives, by a majority vote, approved a bill that would help protect student athletes from these serious ramifications. (1)

The Concussion Treatment and Care Tools Act (ConTACT Act) was written by Democrat Rep. Bill Pascrell. It would require that the Department of Health and Human Services hold a conference of professionals from the athletic, medical and educational fields to set guidelines for managing concussions, including setting standards for when student athletes should be allowed to return to their sport following a concussion. The bill would also allow for grants to be issued to states looking to purchase concussion testing equipment and institute concussion management policies. (1)

A concussion occurs when the brain is pushed around inside the skull and can be caused by a direct hit to the head or a sudden stop. Not every concussion causes unconsciousness. Symptoms, however, include dizziness, nausea, sensitivity to light/noise, headaches, and trouble concentrating. (2)

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It was supposed to be the forgetful woman’s answer to birth control but now the Ortho Evra patch is the subject of an ongoing investigation and basis for numerous lawsuits against its manufacturer, New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson. The question is whether or not Johnson & Johnson did enough to warn consumers about the higher risks associated with the patch. (1)

When it was first introduced in 2002, the patch was lauded as one of the year’s best inventions. But as popularity of the patch grew, so did evidence about the higher risks associated with the product. (1)

In 2005, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning to consumers that exposure to higher levels of estrogen put them at greater risks for serious side effects, including blood clots and strokes. A warning was then added to the label on the patch advising women that use of the product would expose them to approximately 60% more estrogen than if they used the pill. (2) Medical experts seem to think that is due to the fact that the patch delivers estrogen straight into the bloodstream on a continuous basis whereas, when in pill form, the hormone is dissolved and digested before entering the bloodstream in more diluted levels. (3)

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New Jersey lawmakers are considering legislation that would provide stiffer penalties for people who talk or text on their cell phones while driving – a move that would make New Jersey’s laws among the toughest in the country. (1)

New Jersey has had laws against the use of cell phones while driving in place since 2004. In late 2007, those laws were amended to make using cell phones without a hands-free device a primary offense. Prior to that, drivers could be cited for cell phone use only if they were pulled over for another violation. (2)

Last Monday, the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee in a 4-to-1 vote approved a bill increasing the penalties for cell phone use while driving. Under the proposed Law, penalties would be imposed on a graduating scale: the first offense would carry a fine of $200; a second offense within 10 years, $400; and the third offense, $600, plus suspension of a driver’s license for 90 days. (3) Current penalties carry a $100 fine.

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A former stage manager for the “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” television show filed a sexual discrimination complaint with the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) alleging that he was demoted and later terminated from his job with the show because the late-night comedian preferred working with women.

Paul Tarascio of Oradell, NJ, filed the complaint against Fallon and the show’s producers alleging that the producers lied about Tarascio’s performance in order to remove him from his position and replace him with a woman. Tarascio alleged in the complaint that Fallon prefers to be directed by women and to work with female technicians only. (1)

Sexual or gender discrimination is no laughing matter. Last month a volunteer firefighter received a $15,000 settlement for her gender discrimination suit against the Clementon Fire and Rescue Company. The firefighter, Merrissa Garretson, alleged she was the victim of repeated derogatory comments from another firefighter. Garretson claimed that she was told an investigation of her complaint would be conducted, but instead her gear was taken from her locker and she was replaced on the fire truck by firefighters with less experience. In addition to the monetary settlement, members of the fire department were required to attend sexual harassment prevention training sessions. (2)

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