Denial of Claim for Accidental Disability Retirement Overturned

The New Jersey Superior Court’s Appellate Division revived a public employee's claim for accidental disability retirement benefits, finding that the state pension board and an administrative law judge applied the wrong legal standard to his claim. The court said the Public Employees' Retirement System focused too narrowly on whether Jack Laurie's workplace accidents directly caused his disability. The law requires considering whether the accidents were a significant, substantial or essential contributing cause, even when a worker has preexisting disabilities. Laurie receive...