Special Employee or Not? Court Decides

A New Jersey appellate court recently overturned a legal malpractice ruling by clarifying when police officers on "extra duty" assignments become "special employees" under workers' compensation law. The October 2025 decision in Dutcher v. Stathis provides important guidance for determining employment status.

Amazon's Misclassification Strips Workers' Safety Net

When a back injury should mean temporary disability benefits, but instead means choosing between rent and recovery—that's the hidden cost of worker misclassification. New Jersey's recent lawsuit against Amazon exposes how labeling employees as independent contractors strips away critical workers' compensation protections, leaving injured workers financially vulnerable during their most precarious moments.

PTSD Officer's Disability Claim Denied

In a decision that highlights the complex intersection of severe mental trauma and disability law, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey recently affirmed the denial of Social Security disability benefits to a former police officer suffering from Post Tramatic Stress Disorder [PTSD] after someone put a contract on his life.

Workers’ Compensation Benefits for Long COVID

 New Jersey Workers' Compensation Benefits for Long COVID: A Comprehensive Update

Understanding Your Rights Under New Jersey's Enhanced Protections for Essential Workers

Understanding Diacetyl: A Workplace Health Concern

Workers in food manufacturing are getting sick from exposure to chemicals called diacetyl and 2,3-pentanedione. These artificial flavoring chemicals are used to add a buttery taste and smell to foods. Exposed workers are developing serious lung diseases, and many are now filing lawsuits against the companies that make these flavorings.

Protecting Healthcare Heroes: Pandemic Preparedness

The 2025 Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB) report, The New Face of Pandemic Preparedness, arrives with a sobering message: five years after COVID-19 began, the world remains dangerously unprepared for the next pandemic. But perhaps nowhere is this vulnerability more acute than among healthcare workers and first responders—the very people we depend on when crisis strikes.

Bendix Asbestos: Legacy Lives On

For decades, the former Bendix plant in Teterboro, New Jersey, represented American industrial might—manufacturing brake systems and aerospace components that powered the nation's growth. But beneath that productive facade lurked a silent killer: asbestos. Today, Honeywell's recent divestiture of all legacy Bendix asbestos liabilities to Delticus for approximately $1.68 billion brings renewed attention to a public health crisis that continues to unfold, even as the factory floors have long gone quiet.