Sager v. O.A. Peterson Constr.
182 N.J. 156 (2004)
Decided December 21, 2004
On 9-11-2001, the petitioner was working at a Long Island construction site for his New Jersey employer when he and his coworkers were blocked from returning home to New Jersey after a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center led to widespread bridge and tunnel closings.  At the direction of their supervisor, the workers left the worksite for an early dinner with the understanding that they were to return after dinner for overtime work. While returning from dinner, the petitioner was severely injured in an automobile accident. After a trial that included hearing the testimony of the supervisor, the Judge of Compensation found the petitioner’s accident compensable, but the Appellate Division reversed this finding by concluding that the petitioner was not required by the supervisor to leave the worksite for dinner.  However, the New Jersey Supreme Court later reversed the Appellate Division and held that the petitioner’s accident was indeed compensable because there was sufficient credible evidence to support the trial judge’s finding that the petitioner was acting under the direction of his employer when the accident occurred.

Jumpp v. City of Ventnor
177 N.J. 470 (2003)
Decided August 13, 2003
The Supreme Court upheld the decision of the workers’ compensation judge that a municipal employee who was injured after leaving the post office to retrieve his personal mail was not entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. In construing the minor deviation rule, the Court generally restricted coverage in situations where the employee’s activity was a personal errand rather than a job responsibility.

  NJ Superior Court – Appellate Division

Cooper v. Barnickel Ent., Inc.  
411 N.J. Super. 343 (App. Div. 2010)
Decided January 13, 2010
Petitioner was injured while driving his employer’s truck when he went on a short trip from his union hall to a nearby delicatessen to get coffee.  The compensation judge found petitioner’s injuries compensable under N.J.S.A.34:15-7 because they arose out of and in the course of employment.  The Appellate Division affirmed, finding this accident compensable where the petitioner was an “off-premises employee” making a “minor deviation” from employment during a coffee break (i.e., rather than leaving work to go on a purely “personal errand”). 

Cooper v. Barnickel Enterprises, Inc.  (Original Reserved Decision)
03-7300 decided October 20, 2008 by the Honorable Bradley W. Henson, Sr., J.W.C.
Respondent motioned the Court to reconsider its decision in light of subsequent case law. The Court granted the motion and re-examined the correctness of applying the “minor deviation” rule and, alternatively, the definition of “employment” stated in N.J.S.A. 34:15-36 when it found the petitioner’s accident (while taking a ride to get coffee) was compensable.  After fully reassessing its original decision applying these doctrines, the Court again concluded that the petitioner’s accident was compensable.    

Sexton v. County of Cumberland 
404 N.J. Super. 542 (App. Div. 2009)
Decided January 9, 2009
Petitioner alleged that her pre-existing respiratory illness (COPD) was aggravated by a co-worker spraying perfume into the air of the workplace. The workers’ compensation judge found that such aggravation was not compensable because it did not arise out of the employment but instead arose out of a personal proclivity of the petitioner. The Appellate Division reversed his conclusion, finding that such an aggravation was compensable under N.J.S.A.34:15-7 because it did arise out of this employment. 

Valdez v. Tri-State Furniture
374 N.J. Super. 223(App. Div. 2005)
Decided January 12, 2005
The workers’ compensation judge found petitioner’s forklift injury non-compensable, holding that petitioner’s activities at the time of the accident did not arise out of and in the course of his employment.  The Appellate Division reversed, finding that under the circumstances of the case, which included supervisor acquiescence and involvement in the forklift incident, the petitioner was entitled to workers’ compensation benefits.

Stroka v. United Airlines
364 N.J. Super. 333 (App. Div. 2003)
Decided November 26, 2003
The Appellate Division reversed the decision of the workers’ compensation judge and held that the post-traumatic stress syndrome the petitioner developed after hearing about the death of her co-employees and passengers aboard Flight 93 on September 11, 2001 was not compensable under N.J.S.A. 34:15-36.  Although the court agreed with the petitioner that her condition “arose out of employment”, it was compelled to disagree with her and hold that her condition did not arise “in the course of employment” because the petitioner was not working at the time the plane crashed.  Remanded for dismissal of the claim.

  Division Reserved Decisions

Paglione v. Palisades Park Board of Education 
07-27988 decided January 13, 2012 by the Honorable Diana Ferriero, S.J.W.C.
Petitioner was a varsity football coach/teacher who was injured in a fight with a football player/student at a high school operated by the respondent.  The judge dismissed his claim petition based upon her finding that the petitioner’s injuries did not arise out of and in the course of employment where he intentionally instigated the altercation and was injured as a result. 

Ippolito v. County of Bergen Road Dept. 
07-25283; 10-17376 decided August 1, 2011 by the Honorable
Philip A. Tornetta, J.W.C.
Petitioner alleged that when he re-injured his back reaching for an alarm clock that re-injury was a natural consequence of an earlier work-related accident.  The Judge of Compensation agreed and concluded that the petitioner proved the second injury was a natural consequence of the work-related accident rather than the result of any unrelated intervening event that broke the chain of causation to his earlier work-related accident.  

Pepe v. American Airlines
08-5878 decided November 11, 2010 by the Honorable Diana Ferriero, J.W.C.
Petitioner alleged that his need for a total right knee replacement arose out of and in the course of his employment with respondent because an undenied work-related accident aggravated, accelerated or exacerbated the pre-existing osteoarthritis in that joint. The judge agreed after she rejected the opinions of two physicians and accepted the opinion of another physician.

Lyons v. Omega Service Maintenance Corp.  
06-30194 decided September 17, 2010 by the Hon. Cosmo A. Giovinazzi, III, J.W.C.
Petitioner's claim alleged that he suffered a heart attack due to physically stressful work.  Applying the requirements set forth in N.J.S.A. 34:15-7.2 and related case law principles, the judge rejected this argument and found insufficient medical evidence showing the petitioner's heart attack arose out of his work. 

Cooper v. Barnickel Enterprises, Inc.  (See Appellate Decision above)
03-7300 decided October 20, 2008 by the Honorable Bradley W. Henson, Sr., J.W.C.
Respondent motioned the Court to reconsider its decision in light of subsequent case law. The Court granted the motion and re-examined the correctness of applying the “minor deviation” rule and, alternatively, the definition of “employment” stated in N.J.S.A. 34:15-36 when it found the petitioner’s accident (while taking a ride to get coffee) was compensable.  After fully reassessing its original decision applying these doctrines, the Court again concluded that the petitioner’s accident was compensable.    

Steiger v. Borough of Rutherford
08-15181; 17175; 17177 decided January 16, 2009 by the Hon. Jill M. Fader, J.W.C.
Petitioner filed a Motion for Medical and Temporary Benefits alleging a back injury resulting from a garbage truck accident.  Respondent, however, contended that petitioner had a vendetta against it that led him to file false claims.  After hearing the testimony of fifteen witnesses, the Judge of Compensation concluded that the petitioner sustained his burden of providing his back was injured during work and that he was entitled to the compensation benefits.  

Hickey v. Jersey City Parking Authority
04-6064 decided April 2, 2008 by the Honorable Kenneth A. Kovalcik, J.W.C.
Petitioner alleged that her husband died of esophageal cancer as a result of exposure to deleterious substances during his work as a parking garage attendant. However, the judge dismissed the claim concluding that she failed to meet the burden of proving that her husband’s job-related exposures constituted a substantial contributing cause or aggravation of the cancer.   

Mojica v. The Valley Hospital
06-5482 decided February 29, 2008 by the Honorable Philip A. Tornetta, J.W.C.
Petitioner alleged that she hurt her right knee while kneeling on both knees to clean a small refrigerator. However, the judge rejected the petitioner’s allegation as unsupported by any credible evidence because she had filed for temporary disability based on statements that her injury was not caused by work, gave doctors a medical history that conflicted with her past medical records, alleged facts that were inconsistent with her work and attendance records, and failed to produce a key co-worker witness at trial.  Her claim was dismissed for failure to prove that the alleged work-related accident actually caused the injury to the right knee. 

Rodgers v. Affinity Direct, LLC
07-19489 decided January 15, 2008 by the Honorable Diana Ferriero, J.W.C.
Petitioner suffered a fractured humerus while arm wrestling with a supervisor during a dinner trip to New York.  He alleged that this injury was compensable because his employer implicitly and/or directly compelled him to participate in this activity.  The compensation judge disagreed because she found no objectively reasonable basis in fact for believing such participation was compelled. She concluded that the pressure felt by the petitioner was self-inflicted and any compulsion experienced was merely subjective.

Daly v. Weis Markets, Inc.
06-32594 decided August 6, 2007 by the Honorable Philip A. Tornetta, J.W.C.
Petitioner alleged that she hurt her back while lifting a case of bottled water over a price scanner. However, the judge rejected her allegation because the petitioner’s testimony conflicted with data recorded by the scanner, statements made in hospital records, and the testimony of co-worker witnesses.  The claim was dismissed for petitioner’s failure to meet her burden of proving that a work-related accident caused her injury. 

Breninghouse v. Italian People’s Bakery
04-37568 decided July 9, 2007 by the Honorable Emille R. Cox, J.W.C.
Petitioner argued that, because her slip and fall occurred while she was leaving work using a lane controlled by her employer, her injuries were compensable. However, the judge found her injuries non-compensable because that lane or alley was part of a public roadway, was not under the control of the employer, and was not the petitioner’s only way to walk home when leaving work.  
 

Fermin v. Silva’s Welding & Mechanical Services
06-20326 decided July 5, 2007 by the Honorable Kenneth A. Kovalcik, J.W.C.
Petitioner alleged that she was struck by a boy riding a bicycle while she was still on the premises of her employer. However, the judge found that the accident was not compensable since the petitioner was actually already on her way home from work and walking on a public sidewalk when struck.  The judge also found that the petitioner was not injured as a result of any “special hazard” arising from the respondent’s business or premises.

Faber v. M&C Vending Co., Inc. 
04-3842 decided February 28, 2006 by the Honorable Diana Ferriero, J.W.C.
Petitioner alleged that her husband’s death in an automobile accident arose out of and in the course of his employment with respondent because he repaired a vending machine immediately after leaving a hospital just twenty-five minutes before the collision. However, the judge found that petitioner failed to sustain her burden of proving that the death was work-related where she did not present any credible evidence that the machine was actually repaired or that her husband was in fact traveling in connection with fixing the machine when his accident occurred.   

Rojas v. Broadway Healthcare Management
99-23497, decided July 23, 2003 by the Honorable Charles W. Dortch, Jr., J.W.C.
Petitioner alleged that herniated discs, evidenced by objective medical tests conducted in the fall of 2002, resulted from an innocent aggravation of a 1999 work-related back injury.  However, the judge found that this condition actually resulted from a new injury arising from an intervening and distinct accident that occurred on April 21, 2002, while the petitioner was fixing a motorcycle.  In reaching his conclusion, the judge rejected the causal opinion of the petitioner’s medical witness as speculation that was unsupported by objective medical evidence and inconsistent with other factual evidence.  

Wilson v. Rite Aid Corp .
99-39478 decided March 31, 2003 by the Honorable Robert F. Butler, J.W.C.
Petitioner was attacked and beaten at her workplace by her former boyfriend. She asserted that her injuries “arose out of and in the course of her employment”. However, even though the judge did find that the petitioner’s injuries occurred “in the course of her employment”, he also found that the petitioner failed to establish that the injury “arose out of her employment”. Concluding that the attack was not causally related to petitioner’s work, but instead arose from the personal relationship and previous contacts the petitioner had with her attacker, the judge held the claim was not compensable and dismissed the case.  

Schleske v. Herr Foods
98-4029, decided January 21, 2003 by the Honorable Cosmo Giovinazzi, III, J.W.C. 
Petitioner, a route salesperson, claimed that her knee synovitis was the result of a work incident when she descended a stairway making a delivery. The judge of compensation, however, found that petitioner's knee condition was an idiopathic problem and not caused by a work accident.  

Wheary v. City of Asbury Park
98-33994, decided November 4, 2002 by the Honorable Lawrence G. Moncher, J.W.C.
Petitioner, who suffered a grand mal seizure while assigned as a municipal EMT, was denied workers' compensation benefits where the judge of compensation found that the work duties did not cause or aggravate petitioner's seizure disorder. In reaching this decision, the judge relied on expert medical testimony and scientific literature.  

Patterson v. Frito Lay
99-35379 decided August 19, 2002 by the Honorable Lawrence G. Moncher, J.W.C.
Where only one-third of employees participated in company golf outing and attendance was voluntary, judge of compensation dismissed claim petition that alleged an injury sustained while participating in this event. Specifically, the judge found compensation barred by N.J.S.A. 34:15-7 since activity was recreational or social and did not produce additional benefit to employer.

McAlpin v. Emiliani Enterprises, Inc.
99-1482, decided June 26, 2002 by the Honorable Neale F. Hooley, J.W.C.
The petitioner alleged that she suffered a psychiatric injury as a direct result of having been sexually assaulted by an employee of the respondent. The workers' compensation judge rejected respondent's contention that the injury alleged arose from an act that was purely personal and found the injury to be compensable.

Gotlieb v. Showboat Hotel & Casino
99-30843, decided Junes 27, 2001 by the Honorable Shelley Lashman, J.W.C.
The petitioner, a black jack dealer, was injured during his 20 minute break while purchasing lottery tickets in a public area of respondent’s casino.  The workers’ compensation judge found the lottery purchase to be a personal errand not covered by workers’ compensation.  

Forte v. F & J Movers, Inc.
98-23968, decided April 24, 2001 by the Honorable Anthony J. Minniti, J.W.C.
The petitioner was injured when weights owned by petitioner and stored in respondent’s vehicle fell on petitioner’s foot, shattering a bone, after the petitioner opened the vehicle door.  Despite the fact that the petitioner owned the weights, the workers’ compensation judge found that the accident was compensable.  

Herzfeld v. Hillside Warehouse & Trucking Company
95-37591, decided August 24, 2000 by the Honorable William L. Boyan, J.W.C.
The workers’ compensation judge determined that petitioner’s myocardial infarction was more likely caused by a combination of petitioner’s genetics and history of smoking cigarettes and was not work-related.   

Beres v. Township of Marlboro
93-56155, decided April 17, 2000 by the Honorable William Boyle, J.W.C.
The petitioner alleged an injury resulting from a fall she sustained while at work.  The workers’ compensation judge found that the fall was the result of an idiopathic event and therefore not compensable.  

Trabb v. Hiram Walker NY
96-2614, decided February 12, 2000 by the Honorable Joan L. Mott, J.W.C.
Petitioner was injured on a business trip as he made his way back to his hotel room after completing his work duties.  The workers’ compensation judge held that the accident was not compensable because petitioner was not engaged in the direct performance of employment duties.  

Taylor v. Stratford Nursing and Convalescent Center
95-24985, decided June 4, 1999 by the Honorable Shelley B. Lashman, J.W.C.
The petitioner, a nurse, established that she twisted he left foot sustaining a new injury.  The respondent’s claim that the injury was an idiopathic even that occurred while petitioner was walking was denied by the judge of compensation.

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