You be the Judge: Charities Have Immunity

YOU BE THE JUDGE

CHARITIES HAVE IMMUNITY

If you are taking courses in school, this may interest you.

The New Jersey Legislature enacted the Charitable Immunity Act, N.J.S.A. 2A:53A-7 to 11 (the Act) to protect charities by granting a broad immunity from civil liability.

Recently, in Orzech v. Fairleigh Dickinson University, A-5919-07T1, the Appellate Division reviewed the scope of that immunity.

Plaintiffs were parents of a student and resident adviser at one of the University dormitories. He accidentally fell to his death from his dormitory window after becoming intoxicated at a party he hosted in his dorm room.

Plaintiffs claimed the University was negligent in enforcing an administrative policy which forbade consumption of alcohol in the dorms.

The jury returned a verdict for the Plaintiffs, but the University appealed, urging that the Act granted it an immunity.

YOU BE THE JUDGE: Does a school enjoy immunity from liability when it is negligent in enforcing a policy for the protection of its students?

The Appellate Division reversed, holding the University was immune, under the circumstances developed in the case. The Court observed that immunity under the Act requires a charity show: a) it was organized for nonprofit purposes; b) it is organized exclusively for religious, charitable or educational purposes; and c) it was promoting such purposes when a plaintiff was injured while a beneficiary of its charitable works. The University satisfied these criteria. Mere negligence is insufficient to deprive a charity of the statutory immunity provided by the Act; the very purpose of the Act was to protect charities which might injure beneficiaries through negligence. The Court admonished, however, that the immunity might not apply if a plaintiff were injured because a charity were willful, wanton or grossly negligent.

The decision points out that a courtroom can bring justice and may be the only way to protect your rights. Our Firm knows courtrooms; we have harnessed the power of the law in courtrooms to bring justice for our clients for decades in Ramsey, Hackensack, Park Ridge, Lodi, Butler, Pompton Lakes, Kinnelon, Paramus and throughout Bergen County, Morris County, Passaic County, Essex County and Hudson County. Please contact us to discuss how we can help you protect your rights in a new lawsuit or provide a Asecond opinion@ about your pending lawsuit. There is no obligation for the initial consultation. Copyright Samuel D. Bornstein, P.A. 2008-2010.