A lawsuit filed by the family of a Palisades Medical Center employee and his wife, who died from COVID-19 days apart, has been reinstated by an appellate court panel.
Alfredo Pabatao, 68, a transport aide at the North Bergen hospital, and Susana Pabatao, 64, an assistant nurse at New Bridge Medical Center in Paramus, were among the first to die from the coronavirus in late March 2020. The couple, who lived in Palisades Park, were hospitalized at Palisades Medical Center (PMC) when they died.
A 15-page ruling released Wednesday overturned the dismissal last year of a lawsuit filed by the family in 2021 in Bergen County Superior Court, citing critical errors by the judge that included refusing to allow the family’s attorney to file an amended complaint before discovery was complete.
The panel also said that the judge erroneously failed to limit his analysis to whether the amended complaint offered a “fundament of a cause of action,” but instead concluded there were no intentional acts or reckless conduct by New Bridge and PMC.
The Pabatao family’s lawsuit claimed that Susana was impermissibly excluded from those employees provided with face masks, while the North Bergen hospital forced Alfredo — who worked there 18 years — to “reuse masks and gowns” while working.
The appellate court panel also pointed out that the lower court judge’s opinion on the motions to dismiss “was silent as to Susana’s direct claim against her employer. Instead, the judge focused on Alfredo’s allegation ... and whether Susana could prove her injuries were proximately caused thereby.”
The couple immigrated to the U.S. from the Philippines in 2001, their daughter, Sheryl,told New Jersey Advance Media after their deaths. They were married 44 years.
“Even though my parents were in the same hospital, they weren’t able to see each other,” Sheryl Pabatao said at the time. “I don’t know how that feels to lose the love of your life of four decades.”
Alfredo was hospitalized March 17, 2020, and died nine days later, the same day his wife was admitted to the hospital when her fever spikes to 103.9 degrees. Susana died March 30.
New Jersey has recorded more than 2.7 million cases of COVID-19 since March 2020, with nearly 37,000 deaths,according to the state Department of Health.
The lawsuit, which is likely to be amended after the appellate court decision, asked for compensatory and punitive damages, pre-judgment and post-judgment interest, the costs and expenses by the family of the litigation, reasonable attorneys’ fees and any other relief as the court deems proper.
