Superior Court Judge James S. Rothschild, Jr. has denied a motion to stay a lawsuit over the Dec. 15, 2013 fatal shooting of Hoboken attorney Dustin Friedland
NEWARK -- After finding that a widow can sue for emotional distress over a fatal carjacking at The Mall at Short Hills, a Superior Court judge has denied a request by a security company to delay the litigation while it appeals that ruling.
California-based Universal Protection Service called on Judge James S. Rothschild, Jr. to stay the legal proceedings pending the outcome of its appeal, but the judge on Dec. 4 denied that motion. The company, which has provided security services at the mall, has asked the Appellate Division to review its appeal of the judge's decision.
In his order denying the motion, Rothschild said that if an appellate panel reverses his ruling, he would have allowed "a small amount of unnecessary discovery," but that does not justify staying the case. The judge said the Appellate Division will likely render its decision "well before the conclusion of discovery" in the litigation.
Universal Protection Service is among the defendants being sued by Jamie Schare Friedland over the Dec. 15, 2013 fatal shooting of her husband, Hoboken attorney Dustin Friedland, at the upscale mall in Millburn. The other defendants in the lawsuit include the mall's owners, Michigan-based Taubman Centers, Inc.
Jamie Schare Friedland's attorney, Bruce Nagel, has alleged the security company and Taubman Centers provided inadequate security at the mall and could have prevented Dustin Friedland's killing.
Stanley Fishman, an attorney for Taubman Centers, said at a July 31 hearing that the killing was a "random act of violence," and that the shopping center could not have prevented it.
Four criminal defendants - Karif Ford, Basim Henry, Hanif Thompson, and Kevin Roberts - have been charged with murder, carjacking and related offenses in Friedland's killing.
The ruling in question was issued on Oct. 23 by Rothschild in regard to the security company's motion to dismiss Jamie Schare Friedland's claim for the negligent infliction of emotional distress from witnessing her husband's death. Friedland was present at the time of the shooting, but she was not injured.
Dustin Friedland and his wife, Jamie Schare Friedland. She is pursuing a lawsuit over the Dec. 15, 2013 fatal shooting of her husband at The Mall at Short Hills. (Facebook) Universal Protection Service has argued that claim should be dismissed due to a lack of evidence that Jamie Schare Friedland was aware of the company's alleged negligence at the time of the incident, court documents state.
But Rothschild ruled that standard was limited to medical malpractice cases and that Friedland had met the requirements to establish the claim, court documents state. Taubman Centers filed a similar motion to dismiss the claim, but the judge denied that motion on Dec. 4.
In its appeal, Universal Protection Service is looking for the Appellate Division to determine that that standard can be applied to non-medical malpractice cases, according to a Nov. 11 brief filed by the company in support of its motion for a stay.
The brief claimed the stay should be granted "because there is a strong public policy in favor of efficiency in the judicial system."
"The parties would be better served by having this issue determined before proceeding with the litigation as substantial time and resources would be utilized in defending against Plaintiff's claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress," the brief states.
But in a response brief dated Nov. 25, Nagel said the request for a stay represented a "frivolous motion," and said that standard was only required in medical malpractice matters.
Nagel also argued "the prolonging of this litigation will cause a severe emotional toll" on Jamie Schare Friedland.
"A denial of UPS's motion for stay and, instead, the continued litigation of this matter would be 'relatively inconsequential' to UPS," Nagel wrote. "Conversely, to delay this litigation and require the decedent's wife, Ms. Friedland, to prolong her stress over this emotional matter is consequential, if not devastating."
Bill Wichert may be reached at bwichert@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillWichertNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
