Plaintiff Reginald Jones was injured when he was attempting to cross in the middle of Isabella Avenue in Irvington. While stepping off the curb, his foot became stuck in a hole in the street adjacent to the curb, which caused him to fall and suffer injuries. The issue in Jones v. Township of Irvington, 2024 N.J. Super. Unpub LEXIS 176 (App. Div. Feb. 6, 2024) was whether he could pursue a claim against the township for its failure to remediate the pothole.
Pothole cases against public entities are difficult to win due to the defenses available to public entities under the New Jersey Tort Claims Act. To be able to sue a public entity for tort liability for injuries caused by that entity’s property, under N.J.S.A. 59:4-2, the plaintiff must establish the property was in a dangerous condition at the time of the injury and that the condition was either created by an employee of the public entity or the public entity had actual or constructive notice of the condition. However, even if the plaintiff is able to present those proofs, the public entity would not be liable for the dangerous condition of its property “if the action the entity took to protect against the condition or the failure to take such action was not palpably unreasonable.”
