On January 3rd
Pellettieri Rabstein & Altman attorney Jeffrey S. Monaghan appeared before
the New Jersey Supreme Court. Monaghan argued on behalf of a
Bridgewater volunteer firefighter; who after having been injured in the course
of fighting a fire had then been denied a lost time benefit because at the time
of her accident, she had neither full nor part-time employment (aside from
volunteer firefighting). The trial court denied her request for this
lost time benefit and her attorney appealed to the New Jersey appellate
division which affirmed the trial courts denial. Subsequently the Supreme Court
agreed to hear this issue which resulted in Monaghan’s oral argument.
Monaghan was acting on behalf
of The New Jersey Association Of Justice (NJAJ), a trial lawyers’ organization
dedicated to protecting New Jersey’s families by working to preserve and
strengthen the laws for safer products and workplaces, a cleaner environment
and quality health care.
NJAJ found the case to be of
great importance, stressing the need to support and encourage volunteerism and
fully protect those who are serving their community. They believe that
the entitlement of temporary compensation benefits while re-cooperating from
physical injuries arising out of volunteer service such as this should be
forthcoming regardless of whether the volunteer is employed in a full-time or
part-time capacity outside their volunteering services.
The Supreme Court will be
issuing their decision in the coming weeks.
Monaghan is a Partner in the
Workers’ Compensation department at Pellettieri Rabstein & Altman and
concentrates his practice primarily on representing injured workers.
He is a member of the New Jersey State and Mercer County Bar
Associations. Since 2006, he has served on the Board of Governors of the
New Jersey Association for Justice and is the co-chair of the Workers’
Compensation Section. He is also a member of the New Jersey Commissioner of
Labor’s Advisory Council on Workers’ Compensation.
