The New Jersey Appellate Division rejected the argument made by the commissioner of New Jersey’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development that a 2010 legislative amendment granting an exemption to court reporters under the Unemployment Compensation Law was “effectively meaningless.”

The issue of first impression before the court was whether N.J.S.A. 43:21-19(i)(10) provides an exemption for court reporters under the Unemployment Compensation Law, or whether they must still establish a Federal Unemployment Tax Act exemption pursuant to N.J.S.A. 43:21-19(i)(1)(G), according to the opinion filed Feb. 12.