59:1-3. Definitions. As used in this subtitle:
"Employee" includes an officer, employee, or servant, whether or not compensated or part-time, who is authorized to perform any act or service; provided, however, that the term does not include an independent contractor.
"Employment" includes office; position; employment; or service, under the supervision of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, in a volunteer program in that part of the Palisades Interstate Park located in New Jersey, as an emergency management volunteer or as a volunteer doing work for the Division of Parks and Forestry, the Division of Fish and Wildlife, or the New Jersey Natural Lands Trust, as authorized by the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, or for the New Jersey Historic Trust.
"Enactment" includes a constitutional provision, statute, executive order, ordinance, resolution or regulation.
"Injury" means death, injury to a person, damage to or loss of property or any other injury that a person may suffer that would be actionable if inflicted by a private person.
"Law" includes enactments and also the decisional law applicable within this State as determined and declared from time to time by the courts of this State and of the United States.
"Public employee" means an employee of a public entity, and includes: a person participating, under the supervision of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, in a volunteer program in that part of the Palisades Interstate Park located in New Jersey.
"Public entity" includes the State, and any county, municipality, district, public authority, public agency, and any other political subdivision or public body in the State.
"State" shall mean the State and any office, department, division, bureau, board, commission or agency of the State, but shall not include any such entity which is statutorily authorized to sue and be sued. "State" also means the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, but only with respect to employees, property and activities within the State of New Jersey.
"Statute" means an act adopted by the Legislature of this State or by the Congress of the United States.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
56
cases (
14 in the last 5 years), 1984–2026 · leading case:
Wright v. State, 778 A.2d 443 (N.J. 2001).
Wright v. State, 778 A.2d 443 (N.J. 2001).
· cites it 8× “The definition of "State" contained in section 59:1-3 was provided for the purposes of this Chapter in order to indicate that the indemnity provided by the State should only be for and to those persons generally considered employees of the State.”
Doe v. Div. of Youth & Fam. Servs., 148 F. Supp. 2d 462 (D.N.J. 2001).
· cites it 4× “” N.J. Stat. Ann. § 59:1-3 . An “employee” includes an “officer, employee, or servant, whether or not compensated or part-time, who is authorized to perform any act or service.”
Ginamarie Gomes v. the Cnty. of Monmouth & Correct, 134 A.3d 33 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2016).
· cites it 5× “Generally, a defendant organization falls within the purview of the TCA if it is considered a "public entity," as that term is defined in N.J.S.A. 59:1-3. See S.E.W. Friel Co. v. N.”
Kaminskas v. State, 200 A.3d 389 (N.J. 2019).
· cites it 5× “59:10A-1 and N.J.S.A. 59:1-3 to cover county police officers would, in the Attorney General's view, conflict with N.”
Paula Maliandi v. Montclair State Univ., 845 F.3d 77 (3rd Cir. 2016).
“§ 59:13-2 (providing that entities that can sue and be sued are not subject to the Contractual Liability Act); Stony Brook Constr.”
Mantz v. Chain, 239 F. Supp. 2d 486 (D.N.J. 2002).
· cites it 2× “” N.J.S.A. § 59:1-3. As a general rule, however, a "public entity is liable for an injury that is proximately caused by an act or omission of a public employee within the scope of his employment 'in the same manner and to the same extent as a private individual under like…”
Lowe v. Zarghami, 731 A.2d 14 (N.J. 1999).
“The Tort Claims Act defines “employee” as follows: ‘Employee’ includes an officer, employee or servant, whether or not compensated or part-time, who is authorized to perform any act or service; provided, however, that the term does not include an independent contractor.”
Michael C. Kain v. Gloucester City, 94 A.3d 937 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2014).
“" N.J.S.A. 59:1-3. The term itself is broad and almost unlimited in scope, clearly designed to apply to entities 11 A-4854-12T2 that do not fall within the definition of "public entity" yet perform the type of governmental function covered by the design immunity.”
State of New Jersey v. Ivonne Saavedra, 81 A.3d 693 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2013).
“The Board, which is itself a public entity under N.J.S.A. 59:1-3, is unquestionably a "governmental vehicle through which [the constitutional obligation to provide a] mandatory education takes place.”
Rk Ex Rel. Skb v. Yale Schs., Inc., 621 F. Supp. 2d 188 (D.N.J. 2008).
“The Tort Claims Act defines “employee” as “an officer, employee, or servant, whether or not compensated or part-time, who is authorized to perform any act or service; provided, however, that the term does not include an independent contractor.”
Pisack v. B & C Towing, Inc., 188 A.3d 1088 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2018).
“N.J.S.A. 59:1-3. The TCA applies to private entities in limited circumstances only where those private entities act under the control and supervision of a public entity to perform a governmental service.”
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