New Jersey Injury Lawyers Blog

Appellate Court Gives Green Light to Lawsuit over Giants Stadium Escalator Mishap

February 26, 2011 | The Victor Rotolo Law Firm

A State Appeals Court last week overturned a ruling by a lower court judge and gave the okay for a lawsuit to proceed against the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA). The lawsuit involves a 2006 escalator accident at the old Giants Stadium in East Rutherford. (1)

The suit was filed by Thomas DiBartolomeo, one of several people injured when leaving the stadium following an October 1, 2006 Jets game. The lawsuit was originally filed against the NJSEA, operator of the stadium, and the Schindler Elevator Company, the company that maintained the escalator. According to the suit the escalator malfunctioned causing fans to fall on top of each other. DiBartolomeo required hip surgery and also developed a hernia following the accident. The suit alleged that a mechanic employed by Schindler had alerted the NJSEA to the potential dangers of overloading the escalator. (2)

The original lawsuit was dismissed by the trial judge. While the appellate court agreed that the Schindler Elevator Company was not responsible for the accident, it did rule in favor of letting the suit against the NJSEA proceed. In its decision, the court noted that DiBartolomeo established that the escalator, when used in a “normal and foreseeable” manner, posed a danger to the public and that the NJSEA had been made aware of this potential danger. (1)

Wrongful Death Lawsuits Still Pending Two Years after Plane Crash near Buffalo, NY

February 12, 2011 | The Victor Rotolo Law Firm

Almost two years after a Continental plane crashed into a home near Buffalo, N.Y., lawyers have gone to court to discuss a number of wrongful death lawsuits still pending in connection with the case, according to recent reports. (1)

A total of 43 lawsuits have been filed claiming wrongful death in connection with the February 12, 2009, crash, including one by the parents of a 24-year-old Parsippany woman, Madeline Loftus, who was among those killed in the accident. (2)

Fifty people were killed when Continental Connection Flight 3407 crashed into a home in Clarence, N.Y., which is about 20 miles from the Buffalo airport – the plane’s final destination. The victims included all 49 people aboard the plane, about 11 of whom were from New Jersey, and the home’s owner. (2)

Decades Old Battle Nears End: Winter Sports Helmet Requirement Closer to Becoming Law

January 29, 2011 | The Victor Rotolo Law Firm

For more than two decades, efforts have been made to require the use of safety helmets by young downhill skiers and snowboarders. This month those efforts have come closer to making that requirement a law. (1)

The State Assembly Tourism and Acts Committee recently approved a bill requiring all skiers and snowboarders under 18 to wear safety helmets while on New Jersey slopes. The bill had passed the State Senate last August and is now pending approval by the full Assembly. (2)

The bill is intended to decrease the number of head injuries suffered as a result of accidents on New Jersey ski slopes. Recently Morristown Memorial Hospital conducted a study which showed that while wearing a helmet may not significantly decrease injuries suffered in high-speed incidents, it could prevent 30% to 50% of injuries suffered in moderate-speed falls. (2)

Father of Victim Sues Estate of Former Police Officer in Fatal Car Crash

January 14, 2011 | The Victor Rotolo Law Firm

A lawsuit seeking to recover damages in the “wrongful death” of a young Newton woman has been filed by the woman’s father against the estate of Brian Kern, driver of the car involved in the fatal collision. (1)

Richard Bubendorf, acting as administrator of his daughter’s estate, filed the lawsuit in State Superior Court in Morristown claiming that Kern was legally intoxicated at the time of the accident and that his reckless driving resulted in the fatal crash. The 25-year-old Kern, an officer on the Andover police force for three years, was off-duty at the time of the accident. (2)

Bubendorf’s 19-year-old daughter, Kristen, was a passenger in Officer Kern’s pickup truck last April 19 when Kern lost control of the vehicle, hit a guardrail and flipped on the westbound lane of Route 80 in Mount Olive. Both Kern and Bubendorf were ejected from the vehicle and died as a result of injuries suffered in the crash; two other passengers suffered injuries but survived the accident. (2)

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.