Category: Updates

On October 21, 2023, at 6:30pm Bathgate, Wegener & Wolf will be honored by the Francis Foundation by being the recipients of this year’s Community Service Award. Our Senior Managing Partner Larry Bathgate together with the firm, has a long history of communal service with helping children fight cancer by putting a smile to their faces. It is only through the collaboration of the Foundation and the Firm that so many kids have been able to fight their battles with strength and perseverance.

Come Join Us!

There will be Open Bar, Cocktail Hour, Dinner, & Dancing ‘Til Midnight.

Accidents involving a dump truck can lead to severe injuries due to the sheer size of a typical truck. Often, a dump truck driver is an employee that a company hires to transport materials to a worksite or assist in a construction project. When a dump truck driver causes a serious accident, the injured party may seek to hold the driver and their employer accountable. 

As a recent news article reported, a passenger tragically lost her life in a three-vehicle crash with a dump truck in Salem County, New Jersey. The accident occurred at an intersection on Route 40 as a driver traveling west made a left turn into a driveway. A dump truck approaching from behind struck the car’s rear end, pushing the truck into the opposite lane. The truck was then struck by a vehicle traveling east. A passenger in the eastbound vehicle was killed. The driver was transported to the hospital for serious injuries. The westbound driver only suffered minor injuries, and the dump truck driver was unharmed. The crash remains under investigation.

Can You Sue a Dump Truck Driver’s Employer After an Accident?

If a dump truck driver’s negligent driving caused you serious harm, you may be able to sue the driver’s employer. After a New Jersey dump truck accident, you may be left with severe injuries or property damage. However, individual truck driver may not be able to afford to compensate you for the full extent of your injuries. Under the doctrine of respondeat superior, New Jersey law allows plaintiffs to hold employers liable if an employee was acting within the scope of their employment with the company. 

Typically, an employee acts within the scope of their employment when completing work at their designated location within an assigned work schedule in furtherance of the employer’s business. For example, a construction company may be liable for a dump truck driver’s conduct if the accident occurred while the driver was transporting supplies to a client’s construction site. 

However, if the accident occurred while the driver was making an unauthorized trip without the employer’s knowledge, the employer would likely not be responsible for the driver’s conduct. In the latter scenario, the driver was not furthering the employer’s business or traveling within their assigned route. An experienced New Jersey personal injury attorney can help you make a strong argument that a negligent employee was acting within the scope of their employment during an accident on the road.

Have You Been Injured in a New Jersey Dump Truck Accident?

After a severe accident, an employer will often argue that their employee was not acting within the scope of employment. If successful, this can dramatically limit your ability to collect fair damages for what you’ve been through. If you or someone you love has been hurt in a New Jersey dump truck accident, contact the attorneys at Bathgate, Wegener & Wolf, P.C. for assistance. Employers may attempt to shield themselves from liability by distancing themselves from their employee’s negligent conduct. The skilled attorneys at our personal injury firm will fight to hold employers accountable for dump truck accidents that have led to severe injury. Our attorneys will gather evidence and develop a case theory to recover the compensation you need and deserve.

To schedule a free initial consultation, call our office at (732) 363-0666. We will not bill you for our services unless we recover money damages on your behalf. 

In a recent decision, the New Jersey Supreme Court affirmed a lower court decision in favor of an employee who suffered injuries on the job. The plaintiff was a mechanic employed by Container Services of New Jersey (CSNJ). He suffered severe injuries when another worker attempted to help him move a piece of equipment. Instead, the worker caused the equipment to crush the plaintiff’s foot, which ultimately required amputation.

Throughout the case, a key question was whether the worker was employed by defendant Marine Transport, Inc. (MT), CSNJ, or both (The same person owned both companies).

Under New Jersey law, a defendant-employer is not liable for a worker’s negligence if it can show that the worker was a “borrowed employee” of a different employer when the accident occurred. In this case, the trial judge treated the issue entirely as a question of law, finding in MT’s favor. The appeals court reversed. MT appealed to the New Jersey Supreme Court, which solely considered whether the multi-factor test used to determine whether a negligent worker was a “borrowed employee” involved a question of law for the court or a question of fact for the jury.

Ultimately, the court held that the test was properly a fact question for the jury to decide. Generally, the jury addresses questions of fact, and a judge addresses questions of law. When a judge or jury goes beyond these set parameters, they often reach an incorrect or unjust outcome. Here, the court looked at the history of the multi-factor test within New Jersey law and identified several factual questions more appropriate for a jury than a judge. These included issues such as witness credibility and other factual disputes between parties.

Furthermore, the court concluded that New Jersey courts should not determine whether a worker is a “borrowed employee” under the multi-factor test unless the evidence is so one-sided as to justify ruling for one party as a matter of law, not fact. In this case, the court concluded that the evidence was not sufficiently one-sided for a judge to apply the factors in the test. Therefore, the trial court erred in determining that the negligent worker was a “borrowed employee” of the plaintiff’s own employer. As a result, the supreme court affirmed the appeals court’s ruling in favor of the plaintiff.

Have You Been Injured in a New Jersey Workplace Accident?

If you or someone you know has suffered injuries on the job in New Jersey, contact the personal injury attorneys at Bathgate, Wegener & Wolf, P.C. to discuss your legal rights. Sometimes, workers’ compensation does not adequately compensate for your injuries, especially if someone other than your employer was at fault for the accident. Our experienced attorneys will develop a strategy to demonstrate to a jury or judge that an employer should be held liable for your injuries. For a free, no-obligation consultation with a member of our team, give us a call at 732-363-0666. We will not charge you any attorneys’ fees unless we can connect you with compensation for what you’ve been through.