As reported by NJ.com, Governor Chris Christie and New Jersey’s public employee unions will be back in Court in May in a dispute over the Governor’s planned payment into the State pension system next year.  More than a dozen unions have sued the Governor to force him to more than double the $1.3 billion payment he proposed for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

State Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson set oral arguments for May 12, according to the Wall Street Journal.  Jacobson last month handed the unions a victory in their lawsuit to reclaim $1.57 billion Christie slashed from this year’s pension payment when tax collections came up short and threw the budget out of balance.  She ordered Christie to work with the Legislature to come up with the cash to fund the payment required under a 2011 pension reform law.  Christie’s lawyers filed a notice last week that they intend to appeal that ruling with the Appellate Court.  They argued that Christie couldn’t be forced to comply with the 2011 law they called unconstitutional.

Under that law, employees were required to kick in more for their benefits, cost-of-living increases were suspended, and the retirement age was raised.  For its part, the State was supposed to ramp up its contributions over seven years until reaching the full amount set by actuaries.  That same law requires the State to pay $3.07 billion into the system next year, nearly $1.8 billion more than Christie included in his $33.8 billion budget proposal.  In the lawsuits, unions argued they kept up their end of the deal, while the State continued to short the system.

Print:
Email this postTweet this postLike this postShare this post on LinkedIn
Photo of Donald C. Barbati Donald C. Barbati

Donald C. Barbati is a shareholder of Crivelli, Barbati & DeRose, L.L.C. His primary practice revolves around the representation of numerous public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues…

Donald C. Barbati is a shareholder of Crivelli, Barbati & DeRose, L.L.C. His primary practice revolves around the representation of numerous public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues litigated before the courts and administrative tribunals throughout the State of New Jersey. In addition, Mr. Barbati also routinely represents individuals in various types of public pension appeals, real estate transactions, and general litigation matters. He is a frequent contributor to the New Jersey Public Safety Officers Law Blog, a free legal publication designed to keep New Jersey public safety officers up-to-date and informed about legal issues pertinent to their profession. During his years of practice, Mr. Barbati has established a reputation for achieving favorable results for his clients in a cost-efficient manner.

Mr. Barbati has also handled numerous novel legal issues while representing New Jersey Public Safety Officers. Most notably, he served as lead counsel for the Appellants in the published case In re Rodriguez, 423 N.J. Super. 440 (App. Div. 2011). In that case, Mr. Barbati successfully argued on behalf of the Appellants, thereby overturning the Attorney General’s denial of counsel to two prison guards in a civil rights suit arising from an inmate assault. In the process, the Court clarified the standard to be utilized by the Attorney General in assessing whether a public employee is entitled to legal representation and mandated that reliance must be placed on up-to-date information.

Prior to becoming a practicing attorney, Mr. Barbati served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Linda R. Feinberg, Assignment Judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Mercer Vicinage. During his clerkship Mr. Barbati handled numerous complex and novel substantive and procedural issues arising from complaints in lieu of prerogative writs, orders to show cause, and motion practice. These include appeals from decisions by planning and zoning boards and local government bodies, bidding challenges under the Local Public Contract Law, Open Public Records Act requests, the taking of private property under the eminent domain statute, and election law disputes. In addition, Mr. Barbati, as a certified mediator, mediated many small claims disputes in the Special Civil Part.

Mr. Barbati received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history, magna cum laude, from Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Upon graduating, Mr. Barbati attended Widener University School of Law in Wilmington, Delaware. In 2007, he received his juris doctorate, magna cum laude, graduating in the top five percent of his class. During law school, Mr. Barbati interned for the Honorable Joseph E. Irenas, Senior United States District Court Judge for the District of New Jersey in Camden, New Jersey, assisting on various constitutional, employment, and Third Circuit Court of Appeals litigation, including numerous civil rights, social security, and immigration cases.