'Bullying is someone who takes advantage of their position over someone else,' said Gerson. 'This was police officers taking advantage of their position.'
Fort Lee, NJ (PRWEB) December 25, 2013
According to an article on NorthJersey.com from December 17, 2013, after police broke up a Fort Lee house party in March of 2011, five teenagers were left in a police van overnight. The article states they were left in freezing conditions for 15 hours. It was not until a passerby heard a commotion the following day and called the police that they were let out.
Adam Kim, Liam Eisenberg, and Kevin Jun sued the Fort Lee Police Department in case no. 2:12-cv-07693-DRD-MCA of the U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey for intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress in addition to various other negligence claims after the youths were detained for 15 hours. In the legal record it is stated that at no point were any of the youths arrested or charged with any offense that would justify their detainment. At one point, two officers returned to the van and drove to a Wendy's. When Jun complained, he was allegedly told to “shut up.”
North Jersey.com reported in the December 17th article that two of the boys are still suffering from post-traumatic stress, claustrophobia, anxiety, nightmares, and ulcers. The police claim that it was a “mistake.” Internal affairs investigations found no evidence of malice, but one of the officers involved was demoted and two were suspended without pay.
Representing Eisenberg was Jeffery Youngman, Esq. and Fred Gerson, Esq - both Bergen County lawyers and members of the Fair Lawn firm Feitlin, Youngman, Karas & Gerson, LLC. The firm focuses on medical malpractice, personal injury, employment law, administrative actions, as well as bullying cases.
“[Bullies are people] who take advantage of their position over someone else,” said Gerson. “This was police officers taking advantage of their position.”
Youngman, Gerson and the other attorneys at FYKG LLC practice a wide variety of litigation, personal injury, family law, estate law, and other legal fields in Bergen County. Gerson and Youngman both have been involved in high profile cases, including Barrat v Cushman and Wakefield of New Jersey Inc, a case involving employee rights, and Dixon v. Jacoben Mfg.Co., a leading case in the field of product liability. In 2012, Gerson and Youngman settled for $4.2 million in the case of Rosenstein v. The Ramsey Board of Education - one of the biggest settlements in a bullying case in the country at the time.