NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court ." Although it is posted on the internet, this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited. R. 1:36-3. SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY APPELLATE DIVISION DOCKET NO. A-0626-19T1 LISA ALLEN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. QUALCARE ALLIANCE NETWORKS, INC., CIGNA HEALTH AND LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, and EDWARD DAVIS, Defendants-Respondents. ____________________________ Submitted May 20, 2020 – Decided June 22, 2020 Before Judges Koblitz, Gooden Brown and Mawla. On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Union County, Docket No. L-0527-17. Hegge & Confusione, LLC, attorneys for appellant (Michael James Confusione, of counsel and on the briefs). Littler Mendelson, PC, attorneys for respondents (Jennifer Ivy Fischer, Amber M. Spataro and Matthew J. Hank of the Pennsylvania bar, admitted pro hac vice, on the brief). PER CURIAM Plaintiff Lisa Allen appeals from an August 2, 2019 Law Division order entered following a plenary hearing, and a September 27, 2019 order denying reconsideration of the August 2 order. Both orders effectively denied plaintiff's request to vacate a settlement and reinstate her wrongful termination complaint against her employer QualCare Alliance Networks, Inc. (QualCare), QualCare's parent company, Cigna Health and Life Insurance Company (Cigna), and Edward Davis, a QualCare employee (collectively, defendants). We affirm. On February 10, 2017, plaintiff filed a complaint against defendants alleging violations of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD), N.J.S.A. 10:5-1 to -49; common law wrongful discharge; and breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing. The complaint designated Glenn Montgomery as plaintiff's trial counsel, and alleged that plaintiff "was systematically harassed and wrongfully terminated for filing . . . complaints regarding, inter alia, nepotism practices, an inappropriate romantic and/or sexual relationship between . . . Davis and a female co-employee[,] and inappropriate sexual harassing conduct against [p]laintiff by . . . Davis." Plaintiff sought compensatory, general, and punitive damages. A-0626-19T1 2 Following the completion of discovery, Cigna and QualCare moved for summary judgment on September 28, 2018, and trial was scheduled for January 28, 2019. The judge conducted oral argument on the motion on October 26, 2018, and reserved decision to allow the parties to discuss a settlement. Between October 29 and November 5, 2018, the parties engaged in settlement negotiations as evidenced by a series of telephone and email exchanges. Beginning on October 29, Montgomery's associate notified plaintiff by email that defendants made an offer of $25,000. He inquired whether plaintiff would "be able to talk tomorrow around 11:00 [a.m.]?" In an email dated October 31, captioned "Allen/Cigna Settlement Negotiations," Montgomery's associate wrote: Dear Ms. Allen: Please allow this correspondence to confirm that you have authorized this office to make a counter- demand of [$95,000] to the offer of [$37,500] made on behalf of the defendants. We will be in touch as soon as we relay your counter-demand to defendants' counsel and the response ...
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals