The Appellate Division affirmed the dismissal of a couple’s claim and an order for the plaintiffs’ counsel to pay more than $20,000 to the defense after a conversation during recess in a virtual trial was caught on camera.

Plaintiffs Siria Hernandez and Felix Pereyra, a husband and wife, appealed a Passaic County Superior Court order dismissing their complaint with prejudice and awarding the defendant attorney costs and fees. The couple’s case concerned a slip and fall at premises owned by the defendant restaurant, La Fortaleza, according to the opinion.