Under the relevant case law (Williams v. Port Authority of New York and New Jersey) in an extraterritorial occupational disease case in order to secure jurisdiction of the New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Court the claimant must show
- (1) period of substantial work exposure in New Jersey in consideration of the totality of the circumstances and given the nature of the injury;
- (2) if the exposure was not substantial then the materials to which the claimant were exposed must be highly toxic; or
- (3) the alleged occupational condition o disease must have been disclose door made obvious while working in New Jersey.
Under these tests, the New Jersey workers’ compensation judge found that the New Jersey work experience of the claimant was ‘de minimis.’ The Judge noted that the claimant was well-aware of his conditions and the possibility that those physical conditions were related to his work. The Judge found that the record was barren of medical evidence of ‘actual aggravation’ of the underlying conditions. Finally, he claimant’s doctor (Dr. Ralph Cataldo) issued an opinion that the Judge of Compensation ruled was merely a ‘net opinion’ and without basis in fact.
Case: Gerard McGlinsey v. George B. Buchanan Company, A-4653-08T3 (N.J. App. Div. Decided Sept. 30, 2010). Unreported.