PHILIP VITALE VS. SCHERING-PLOUGH CORPORATION
A-1156-14T4
In the context of a worker for a security guard service,
this opinion resolves a novel question of law in New Jersey:
Whether a provision in an employment contract limiting a
worker's right to sue a third party for negligence is
enforceable. The court determines such a provision, eliminating
an employee's remedies from a non-employer, and allowing only
those remedies provided from his or her employer pursuant to the
Workers' Compensation Act, N.J.S.A. 34:15-1 to -142, is against
New Jersey public policy and therefore unenforceable.
Because plaintiff could have contributed to the fall by not turning on the light prior to stumbling, the court also remands for a new trial as to comparative negligence only, where plaintiff, in the course of his work duties, was injured after tripping over an object negligently left on a dark staircase
