Christie admin's money-saving decision could hurt injured workers, lawyers warn

Closing the workers’ comp court in Lebanon Township would  save the state more than $166,000 a year.(Photo: The Register) Today's post is shared from mycentraljersey.com/ Story Highlights The state is closing the workers' comp court in Lebanon, which serves Hunterdon, Warren and Somerset counties. The cases would be shifted to Mount Arlington and New Brunswick. Lawyers say the decision would create heavy backlogs and burden workers. LEBANON TOWNSHIP – A decision by the Christie administration to close one of the state's 15 workers' compensation courts is being opposed by attorneys who say it would burden injured workers and delay cases in five counties. The court in Lebanon, which serves people in Hunterdon, Warren and Somerset counties, is scheduled to close in June as a cost-saving measure. Department of Labor spokesman Brian T. Murray last week said the closure would save more than $160,000 a year, not including the cost "of staff from the Division of Law and Public Safety and risk management in Treasury who must go to that location on a rotating basis for different cases." The Hunterdon County location's 3,853 cases would be divided between the courts in New Brunswick, which already has more than 9,000 cases, and Mt. Arlington in Morris County, which already has more than 4,800 cases. Lawyers with the New Jersey Advisory Council on Safety & Health (COSH) and the New Jersey State Bar Association say the decision would mean travel times of an...

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