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New Jersey Law Journal

Police & Fire
CFO Once Sued By NJ Firm Accused Of Embezzling $1.5M CFO Once Sued By NJ Firm Accused Of Embezzling $1.5M
CFO Once Sued By NJ Firm Accused Of Embezzling $1.5M A 61-year-old Westfield resident was charged with embezzling more than $1.5 million from the law firm where he worked as chief financial officer, the New Jersey Attorney General's Office said. John Dunlea was the CFO at McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, a national law firm based in Morristown, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said.  Between 2017 and 2022, Dunlea misappropriated funds from the firm by paying himself $1.2 million. He also rung up $355,256 in charges on the company credit card, paying for flights, hotels and restaurants for himself and his family, Platki…

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by Sam Barron
Legal
Woman Partially Paralyzed By Childbirth Epidural Agrees To $13.5M Settlement With NJ Hospital Woman Partially Paralyzed By Childbirth Epidural Agrees To $13.5M Settlement With NJ Hospital
Woman Partially Paralyzed By Childbirth Epidural Agrees To $13.5M Settlement With NJ Hospital A woman who was left paralyzed in her lower legs after childbirth reportedly has agreed to a $13.5 million settlement of a lawsuit against Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. Alexandra Mejia was 18 and pregnant with her first child when she was admitted to the New Brunswick hospital on Oct. 25, 2019, according to a story published in the New Jersey Law Journal. A delayed diagnosis of blood that pooled in her lower back because of an epidural left her partially paralyzed, unable to walk and forced to use a catheter to urinate, it says. An obstetric anesthesiologist noticed heavy bleedi…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Legal
Wrongful Death Suit: $5M Received By Family For North Jersey Electrician's Fatal Fall Wrongful Death Suit: $5M Received By Family For North Jersey Electrician's Fatal Fall
Wrongful Death Suit: $5M Received By Family For North Jersey Electrician's Fatal Fall The estate of an electrician who died from a 30-foot fall at a food manufacturing plant in Saddle Brook has reportedly received a $5 million settlement. Joseph Roscitt, who worked for the Modern Electric Company in Clifton, was atop a scissor lift changing light bulbs when an employee at Chefler Foods accidentally backed a forklift into the aerial platform on Dec. 1, 2021, authorities said Roscitt, who was a member of IBEW Local 164 in Paramus, suffered brain bleeding and other critical injuries when his head slammed against the concrete floor, they said. A portion of his skull was removed…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Legal
Family Of Driver, 24, Killed In GSP Crash Gets $2.15M Settlement From Dump Truck Owner Family Of Driver, 24, Killed In GSP Crash Gets $2.15M Settlement From Dump Truck Owner
Family Of Driver, 24, Killed In GSP Crash Gets $2.15M Settlement From Dump Truck Owner The estate of a 24-year-old man who was killed in a crash on the Garden State Parkway has reportedly settled a lawsuit against his former employer for $2.15 million. Brandon Lawson, of Manchester Township, was driving a dump truck owned by Farmingdale-based Galderese Trucking when its brakes failed on the southbound Parkway in Egg Harbor Township in the middle of the afternoon on Jan. 6, 2021, authorities said. The truck veered off the road, struck a guardrail and then rolled onto the median, New Jersey State Police said at the time. Lawson was pronounced dead at the scene, they said.…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Driver Rear-Ended By Bus Near MetLife Reaches $1.7M Settlement With NJ Transit Driver Rear-Ended By Bus Near MetLife Reaches $1.7M Settlement With NJ Transit
Driver Rear-Ended By Bus Near MetLife Reaches $1.7M Settlement With NJ Transit A driver whose car was rear-ended by a commuter bus after he stopped for a flat on a Route 3 bridge in East Rutherford reportedly settled a lawsuit against NJ TRANSIT for $1.7 million. Renator Pastor -- then 21 -- of Bloomfield was headed west when he got a flat, switched on his emergency flashers and pulled onto a partial shoulder on Sept. 16, 2019. Soon after, a westbound NJ TRANSIT slammed into his vehicle from behind at an estimated 40 miles an hour. Pastor, who was still sitting in the driver's seat, was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center with multiple cervical and thoracic…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Bergen Motorist Severely Injured In Rear-End Crash Receives $760,000 Settlement Bergen Motorist Severely Injured In Rear-End Crash Receives $760,000 Settlement
Bergen Motorist Severely Injured In Rear-End Crash Receives $760,000 Settlement UPDATE: A Bergen County woman received a $760,000 settlement after she was seriously injured when her car was rammed from behind on a busy Oradell street, according to a published report. Mary Kathlynne "Kat" Flanders, 47, was stopped in traffic on Kinderkamack Road on April 29, 2017 when another vehicle rear-ended hers, the New Jersey Law Journal reported. The impact knocked her vehicle into the one in front of her, the report says. Flanders suffered four herniated discs and nerve damage, among other serious injuries, according to the Law Journal. Spinal injections didn't work, forcing h…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Administrator, Managers Out At Bergen Courthouse, No Reasons Given Administrator, Managers Out At Bergen Courthouse, No Reasons Given
Administrator, Managers Out At Bergen Courthouse, No Reasons Given Mystery surrounds the departure of several administrators from the Superior Court in Bergen County. Trial Court Administrator Laura Simoldoni took a leave of absence in anticipation of retirement next year, multiple sources said. Civil Division Manager Kathleen Stylianou, Assistant Civil Division Manager Vincenza Bruno and a second assistant whose name wasn't immediately available also left their positions on Oct. 11, the sources said. Pete McAleer, a spokesman for the state judiciary told the New Jersey Law Journal that the departures didn't involve any criminal behavior. However, he did…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Route 80 Driver Injured By Rock That Crashed Through Windshield Collects $750,000 Route 80 Driver Injured By Rock That Crashed Through Windshield Collects $750,000
Route 80 Driver Injured By Rock That Crashed Through Windshield Collects $750,000 A driver who was knocked cold when a rock crashed through his windshield on Route 80 reportedly collected $750,000 in insurance money. No one ever identified the owner of the dump truck responsible for the rock that severely injured Brian Lapinski, 48, of Hamburg, as he drove his boss's Ford F-150 on the westbound highway near the Rockaway Mall. Lapinski was hospitalized with severe facial injuries. He ended up filing an uninsured motorist's claim in Superior Court in Morristown against his boss' automobile carrier, New Jersey Manufacturers, and his personal insurer, GEICO, according to th…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Driver Knocked Off Route 80 By Tractor Trailer Settles Suit For $2 Million Driver Knocked Off Route 80 By Tractor Trailer Settles Suit For $2 Million
Driver Knocked Off Route 80 By Tractor Trailer Settles Suit For $2 Million A lumber salesman whose car was knocked off Route 80 in Morris County by a tractor-trailer owned by a Long Island company has reportedly received a $2 million settlement for his injuries. Kevin Smith, 49, of Newton was headed east in the slow lane when the rig drifted from the center lane and bumped his car, sending it careening off the highway in Mount Olive on June 25, 2019, police said at the time. Smith, formerly of Hackettstown, underwent surgery for "multiple fractures and herniations of the lumbar spine," the New Jersey Law Journal reported. He later spent a week in a rehab center a…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Men Drop Sex Assault Suits Against Retired Bergen Judge Turned Fox Analyst Andrew Napolitano Men Drop Sex Assault Suits Against Retired Bergen Judge Turned Fox Analyst Andrew Napolitano
Men Drop Sex Assault Suits Against Retired Bergen Judge Turned Fox Analyst Andrew Napolitano Two men have dropped their lawsuits accusing disgraced former Bergen County judge turned Fox News analyst Andrew Napolitano of sexually assaulting them. Napolitano, who was fired from Fox last August amid accusations of sexually harassing employees, had already made headlines this week for selling his condo at Trump International Hotel & Tower on Central Park West. Then came reports, first published in the New Jersey Law Journal, that Charles Corbishley and James Kruzelnick had withdrawn their suits accusing Napolitano of sexual abuse three decades apart. Napolitano also dropped a lib…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Hackensack Man Struck By Car Outside Saddle Brook Supermarket Settles Suit For $1.28 Million Hackensack Man Struck By Car Outside Saddle Brook Supermarket Settles Suit For $1.28 Million
Hackensack Man Struck By Car Outside Saddle Brook Supermarket Settles Suit For $1.28 Million UPDATE: A Hackensack man who suffered a traumatic brain injury when he was hit by a car in a supermarket parking lot in Saddle Brook reportedly received a $1.275 million settlement from a lawsuit. Richard Kunzweiler was 75 when he was struck by a car driven by a 66-year-old Fair Lawn man outside the Acme in Saddle Brook on Aug. 16, 2018, records show. Besides the traumatic brain injury, Kunzweiler suffered a C7 vertebral fracture, a ligament tear, a spinal cord injury and bulging discs and several broken bones, a suit filed in Superior Court in Hackensack claims. He had surgery that requir…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Family Of Bicyclist Killed In Newark’s Ironbound Settles Suit For $2.5M Family Of Bicyclist Killed In Newark’s Ironbound Settles Suit For $2.5M
Family Of Bicyclist Killed In Newark’s Ironbound Settles Suit For $2.5M The family of a mechanic who was struck and killed on his bicycle in The Ironbound has reportedly settled a wrongful death lawsuit for $2.5 million. Renato Gomes, 42, was struck and run over by a tractor-trailer hauling fuel as he rode his bicycle on July 10, 2018 in the Down Neck neighborhood of Newark where the Brazilian native worked, authorities said at the time. Surveillance video captured images of the horrific crash at Adam and Thomas streets, where he was pronounced dead, they said. Renato Roberto Gomes was born in São Paulo, where worked at a Mercedes Benz plant before emigrating…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Morris Motorist Who May Lose Leg From Head-On Crash With Passaic Driver Gets $1.5M Settlement Morris Motorist Who May Lose Leg From Head-On Crash With Passaic Driver Gets $1.5M Settlement
Morris Motorist Who May Lose Leg From Head-On Crash With Passaic Driver Gets $1.5M Settlement A nursing assistant who may end up losing a leg from a head-on crash with a Passaic County driver in Morris County reportedly has won a $1.49 million settlement. Melissa Van Orden, now 47, of Budd Lake was driving home from work on southbound Route 206 in Andover when an oncoming Volkswagen crossed the double-yellow center line and slammed head-on into her Hyundai Santa Fe shortly after 7 a.m. on Dec. 22, 2019, authorities said. Both Van Orden and the Volkwagen driver, Enrico Stampone, now 27, of Totowa, were airlifted to Morristown Medical Center, responders said at the time. Va…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
9/11 Hero's Widow Awarded $5M From Killer Convicted In Brutal Murder At LBI Home 9/11 Hero's Widow Awarded $5M From Killer Convicted In Brutal Murder At LBI Home
9/11 Hero's Widow Awarded $5M From Killer Convicted In Brutal Murder At LBI Home The widow of a 9/11 hero was awarded $5 million in a judgment against the man convicted of brutally killing her husband at their Long Beach Island vacation home. Superior Court Judge Mark Troncone, sitting in Toms River, ruled against Conrad Sipa, who was convicted of murder in the death of New York City fire lieutenant Richard Doody Jr., the New Jersey Law Journal reported. Police discovered Doody’s body wrapped in a blanket at the couple’s Barnegat Light home after Murray called them from the couple’s Staten Island home to check on him. Sipa, an occupational therapist from Colts Nec…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NJ Transit Driver Injured In Ridgefield Park School Bus Crash Gets $2.25M In Settlement NJ Transit Driver Injured In Ridgefield Park School Bus Crash Gets $2.25M In Settlement
NJ Transit Driver Injured In Ridgefield Park School Bus Crash Gets $2.25M In Settlement A driver who suffered spinal injuries that kept him from ever returning to work when his NJ Transit bus was struck from behind by a school bus in Ridgefield Park received a $2.25 million settlement, a published report says. Miguel Alvarez had stopped to collect passengers on eastbound Route 46 when his bus was struck from behind on June 22, 2017, aggravating a previous injury, attorney Edward Capozzi, told New Jersey Law Journal. Capozzi filed a personal injury suit on Alvarez’s behalf against Felix Rodriguez-Esprit, the driver of the Morgan Educational Services bus, in Superior Court in Ha…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
SUSPENDED: Bergen County Judge Secretly Recorded Meetings, Supreme Court Finds SUSPENDED: Bergen County Judge Secretly Recorded Meetings, Supreme Court Finds
Suspended: Bergen County Judge Secretly Recorded Meetings, Supreme Court Finds A Superior Court judge has been suspended by the Supreme Court without pay for two months after it came to light that she secretly recorded meetings at the at the Bergen County Courthouse. Deborah Gross-Quatrone of Saddle Brook is accused of recording two meetings with Assignment Judge Bonnie Mizdol and others in Bergen County, and a third with Mizdol -- after the assignment judge told her not to -- all in 2015, the presentment case says. "These actions suggest a disturbing lack of sound judgment and professional integrity that, if left unaddressed, threaten the dignity …

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by Cecilia Levine
Neighbors
Franklin Lakes' Carol Catuogno Named NJ Superior Court Judge Franklin Lakes' Carol Catuogno Named NJ Superior Court Judge
Franklin Lakes' Carol Catuogno Named NJ Superior Court Judge Two Bergen County residents are among the 27 New Jersey Superior Court judges confirmed on Thursday. According to the New Jersey Law Journal, the two judges are: Carol Catuogno of Franklin Lakes: an assistant Bergen County prosecutor who has been with the office since 1998. She currently is a trial section chief. From 1991 to 1998, she was an assistant district attorney with the Richmond County District Attorney’s Office in Staten Island, New York. Mitchell Steinhart of Fair Lawn: a staff attorney for the Bergen County Board of Social Services since 1987. From 1986 to 1987, he was with Pow…

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by Cecilia Levine