The New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled that the lack of outside employment is not just cause to withhold temporary disability benefits from a volunteer firefighter who was injured in the line of duty.

In Kocanowski v. Township of Bridgewater, the justices overturned a ruling by the Appellate Division that a 15-year volunteer firefighter was ineligible to receive temporary disability benefits because she did not have a paying job at the time of her injury. The appeals court said in that March 2018 decision that eligibility for temporary benefits required proof of lost wages.