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Case name: Daganya v. Bd. of Educ. of the Township of Old Bridge, Middlesex County, No. A-2886-08T2 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 12/08/09).

Ruling: The New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division affirmed a finding that a teacher was not entitled to compensation for her lost income as a field hockey coach.

Summary: A teacher injured her knee at work. She underwent knee-replacement surgery and was absent from work for two months. The teacher argued that, in addition to wage replacement, she should be paid her field hockey coach stipend, in part because she "clearly had an expectation of employment in the [coaching] position" and would be replacing "income from work actually lost." The school district argued that her coaching position was neither full time nor tenured. The court agreed that the teacher was not entitled to the coaching stipend under a New Jersey law addressing the payment of sick leave for work injuries in a school setting. That law states a teacher who is out of work and receiving sick leave is entitled to reimbursement for "salary or wages," which she received. The court noted that a stipend is not a salary or a wage. Therefore, the teacher was not entitled to reimbursement for loss of income from her extracurricular coaching duties.

The court also noted the teacher did not hold a teaching certificate for the coaching position, the assignment was made from year-to-year, the stipend was separate from her teaching salary, and there was no obligation on her part to accept the coaching position as part of her teaching duties.

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February 8, 2010

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