Colon v. Tedesco

In Colon v. Tedesco, 125 N.J. Super. 446, 452, 311 A.2d 393 (Law Div.1973), the court found that the Department of Labor and Industry's refusal to institute proceedings was not deemed discretionary where statute was cast in mandatory, well-defined terms. In Colon, plaintiffs charged certain individuals in control of a migrant labor camp with permitting unsanitary conditions in their operation so that it constitutes a public nuisance. Id. at 447, 311 A.2d 393. The relief sought was a judgment ordering defendants to initiate proceedings against the owning and operating individuals pursuant to specific statutes to declare the camp to be a public nuisance. Ibid. There, the statutes which plaintiffs cited in their complaint provided that the Department of Labor and Industry, and Attorney General, had certain mandated duties which entailed specifically, initiating action against camps who failed to comply with those statutes. Id. at 447, 311 A.2d 393.