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.
