Second NJ Court Case on Dispatcher Immunity

For the second time in one week, a New Jersey appeals court has reversed a lower court’s ruling of immunity for public safety dispatchers who are plaintiffs in a lawsuit that alleges they mishandled 911 calls. As in the previous case, the court analyzed the state’s existing immunity laws and found they applied only to communications companies providing 911 and cellular services, and not to dispatchers performing their duties. In this 1995 incident, a neighbor called 911 to report hearing a disturbance across the hall, but gave the wrong address. Jersey City calltaker Laura Petersen answered the call, spoke very briefly with the caller and entered a CAD incident. However, Petersen failed to obtain anything information beyond the address, which turned out to be incorrect. Officers checked the address, failed to find anything, and returned to service. Radio dispatcher Michael Clark attempted a callback to the witness, but heard only a voicemail greeting and left no message. The witness called back on 911 later in the evening to say officers never arrived. But  calltaker Brenda Murdaugh-Jones answered, determined it was an inquiry of something that occurred earlier, and told the man to call the non-emergency number. He did not. About 10 hours later, and 34 hours after the first call, one of the four persons who had been stabbed inside the apartment regained consciousness, dialed 911 and help was dispatched. Two victims did not survive. The appeals court overturned the lower court’s grant of immunity for the involved calltakers and Murdaugh-Jones, but affirmed the immunity for Clark. The case now goes back to the lower court for trial on the negligence issues. Download (pdf) a copy of the Superior Court’s decision here.