Judge Clears Menlo Park Veterans Home Workers to Sue Over 2020 ‘No-Mask’ Policy

ROSELAND, N.J. — A Middlesex County Superior Court judge has ruled that 42 employees and family members of staff at the New Jersey Veterans Memorial Home at Menlo Park may proceed with a lawsuit alleging that facility administrators barred workers from wearing personal protective masks and gowns during the deadly COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, and threatened discipline against those who defied the policy. 

Judge Glenn C. Slavin rejected arguments from the state that workers’ compensation immunity and COVID-era waivers shielded the home from liability, ruling that a jury must decide whether the no-mask policy rose to the level of an intentional wrong under New Jersey law. 

The case follows more than $52 million in settlements the State of New Jersey has already paid to families of over 200 residents who died during COVID-19 outbreaks at the state-run Menlo Park and Paramus veterans’ homes. Attorney Paul M. da Costa, who represented many of those families, now represents the Menlo Park employees in this new action. 

“These workers put their own safety on the line to care for our veterans, and instead of protection, they got threats,” said da Costa. “This ruling means a jury will finally get to decide whether that was more than negligence — whether it was an intentional wrongdoing. We look forward to holding those responsible accountable.” 

The lawsuit names the State of New Jersey, the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, and former Menlo Park administrators as defendants. A trial date has not yet been set.