Officers’ Rights
Do you need to file
tort claim notice?
One of the occupational hazards of being a law
enforcement officer is that you will likely eventu-
ally be sued at one time or another in your career.
Most times, prior to being sued, a law enforce-
ment officer will be notified of a potential lawsuit
by receipt of a tort claim notice from the claimant.
The familiarity of law enforcement officers with
tort
claim notice inevitably leads to the question
STUART
of whether or not a law enforcement officer needs
ALTERMAN to file tort claim notice if he or she wants to sue his
or her employer. The short answer is: sometimes.
Tort claim notice is a procedural hurdle that the New Jersey
legislature has included in the Tort Claims Act. The requirement
of tort claim notice has been in place since 1972. In a nutshell,
it requires a claimant to put a public entity and/or a public em-
ployee on notice of a potential claim within 90 days of the ac-
crual of that claim. The claimant must provide:
a. the name and post office address of the claimant;
b. the post office address to which the person presenting
the claim desires notices to be sent;
c. the date, place and other circumstances of the oc-
currence or transaction which gave rise to the claim
asserted;
d. a general description of the injury, damage or loss in-
curred so far as it may be known at the time of presenta-
tion of the claim;
e. the name or names of the public entity, employee or em-
ployees causing the injury, damage or loss, if known; and
f. the amount claimed as of the date of presentation of the
claim, including the estimated amount of any prospec-
tive injury, damage, or loss, insofar as it may be known at
the time of the presentation of the claim, together with
the basis of computation of the amount claimed.
Failure to provide the required information within the re-
quired timeframe could jeopardize the claim of the individual.
However, the Tort Claim Act only applies to torts. A tort is a
civil wrong committed against someone, in which the injured
party can sue for damages.
The New Jersey courts have already ruled that certain causes
of action are not torts. Those include:
a. discrimination claims brought under New Jersey’s Law
Against Discrimination (LAD);
b. harassment claims brought under New Jersey’s LAD;
c. hostile work environment claims brought under New
Jersey’s LAD;
d. retaliation claims brought under New Jersey’s LAD;
The Law Firm of
Alterman & Associates, LLC
Stuart J. Alterman, Esquire
Jeffrey S. Ziegelheim, Esquire
Arthur J. Murray, Esquire
Proudly representing Law Enforcement and Public Safety for a combined 80 years
Contract Negotiation
Contract Arbitration
Grievances/ Arbitration
Discipline Defense
Whistleblower /CEPA
Hostile Work Environment
Pension/Disability Appeals
Criminal Defense
Workers Compensation
Personal Injury
Human Resource Issues
Civil Rights Litigation
Administrative
One Stop Shop for Public Safety
Alterman & Associates, LLC have been an approved law firm with the PBA Legal Protection Plan since its inception.
South Jersey Location
8 South Maple Avenue, Marlton, NJ 08053
(856) 334-5737
North Jersey Location
22 Church Street, Haledon, NJ 07508
(973) 956-1621
salterman@alterman-law.com
www.altermanandassociates.com
www.NJPoliceAttorney.com
www.NJCorrectionsAttorney.com
24
NEW JERSEY COPS
■ AUGUST 2017