JHC INDUSTRIAL SERVICES, LLC VS. CENTURION COMPANIES, INC., ET AL. (L-7635-17, BERGEN COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (A-1980-19)

 JHC INDUSTRIAL SERVICES, LLC VS. CENTURION COMPANIES, INC., ET AL. (L-7635-17, BERGEN COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (A-1980-19)

Defendant Centurion Companies, Inc. subcontracted demolition work it agreed to perform for Alfred Sanzari Construction to plaintiff JHC Industrial Services, Inc. JHC did the work and Sanzari paid Centurion for it. Centurion, however, did not pay JHC in full, prompting this action under the Prompt Payment Act. Although JHC completely prevailed after two years of litigation and trial, the judge refused its application for $104,670.51 in fees pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2A:30A-2(f), awarding it only $16,375.73. The judge reasoned it could not "[u]nder Rendine . . . grant over $100,000 in fees on a judgment that could not have exceeded $30,500."

The court reverses and remands for reconsideration of the fee award. The Prompt Payment Act is a fee-shifting statute that makes an award of "reasonable costs and attorney fees" mandatory to a prevailing party; the judge erred in reading in a proportionality requirement not included in the statute.

27-35 JACKSON AVENUE, LLC VS. SAMSUNG FIRE & MARINE INSURANCE CO., LTD. (L-6049-17, BERGEN COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (A-2925-19)

 27-35 JACKSON AVENUE, LLC VS. SAMSUNG FIRE & MARINE INSURANCE CO., LTD. (L-6049-17, BERGEN COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (A-2925-19)

A sprinkler head discharged for no apparent reason at plaintiff's property and flooded two floors. A major tenant immediately cancelled its lease, and plaintiff made claims under an insurance policy issued by defendant. Defendant hired an expert to examine the sprinkler head; he concluded that defendant had no subrogation claim because it could not prove the cause of the discharge.

Plaintiff requested that defendant preserve the sprinkler head for its expert's examination. However, defendant's expert had already disposed of it. Plaintiff retained its own expert, who concluded the cause of the discharge was either a product defect, faulty installation, or faulty maintenance/inspection, but he could not conclude which of those possibilities was more likely. Plaintiff filed suit, alleging intentional and negligent spoliation of evidence. After discovery, the judge granted defendant summary judgment.

The court concluded that plaintiff was not entitled to an "adverse" or "spoliation" inference against defendant, which was not the third-party target defendant. The court also concluded that although other states have adopted modified proximate cause standards to permit a plaintiff to demonstrate a prima facie spoliation case despite the loss of critical evidence, our Court has not addressed the issue. Instead, relying on traditional negligence principles, the court concluded that, given its expert's indefinite conclusions, plaintiff failed to establish a prima facie case of proximately caused injury and damages. The court affirmed the grant of summary judgment.

FRANK GRILLO, ET AL. VS. STATE OF NEW JERSEY (L-0495-19, MERCER COUNTY AND STATEWIDE), (A-1038-19)

 FRANK GRILLO, ET AL. VS. STATE OF NEW JERSEY (L-0495-19, MERCER COUNTY AND STATEWIDE), (A-1038-19)

Plaintiffs, police officers employed by the City of Trenton who were on work-related temporary disability and their police union, appealed the dismissal with prejudice of their declaratory judgment complaint against the State of New Jersey and the denial of their cross-motion to amend the complaint.

Plaintiffs sought relief from the State Health Benefits Program (SHBP), N.J.S.A. 52:14-17.25 to -17.46a., which requires all public employees to contribute to the cost of their health benefits plan based on their "base salary." Plaintiffs argued that cost of their SHBP benefit contributions while disabled should be calculated based on the temporary disability benefits they receive, not their "base salary."

The State moved pursuant to Rule 4:6-2(e) to dismiss the complaint with prejudice based on the plain language of the statute. The plaintiffs' cross-motion to amend the declaratory judgment complaint sought alternate relief, declaring that recipients of temporary disability benefits should not make any contributions to the SHBP while disabled.

Applying well-established principles of statutory construction, the court held that temporary disability benefits are not "base salary" for purposes of the SHBP. The court also held that the denial of plaintiffs' cross-motion to amend the complaint was not an abuse of discretion where the unambiguous language of the statute rendered the proposed amendment futile.