On July 15, 2015, the Supreme Court of New Jersey ruled that an employee who monitors corporate compliance—a so-called “watchdog” employee—can engage in protected activity by blowing the whistle under the New Jersey Conscientious Employee Protection Act (“CEPA”) in the course of performing the tasks and functions of the job for which he or she was hired. Lippman v. Ethicon, No. A-65/66-13. In so ruling, the Court rejected a well-established line of lower court cases holding that activities which are part and parcel of an employee’s assigned responsibilities cannot amount to whistleblowing—otherwise known as the “job-duties” exception.
Further Expanding An Already Expansive NJ Whistleblowing Law
Often touted as the most expansive state whistleblowing law in the U.S., New Jersey’s seemingly boundless Conscientious Employee Protection Act (“CEPA”) may get even broader. On October 9, 2014, New Jersey’s Senate Labor Committee approved bill S768, which would expand CEPA to prohibit workplace retaliation against public employees who
CEPA Roundup
In recent weeks, New Jersey’s primary whistleblower statute—the Conscientious Employee Protection Act (“CEPA”)—has been the subject of increased judicial scrutiny.
Can Employees “Blow the Whistle” by Simply Working? EANJ says No.
On behalf of the Employers Association of New Jersey (“EANJ”), Proskauer attorneys Mark Saloman, Daniel Saperstein, Allana Grinshteyn, and Nicholas Tamburri submitted an amicus brief on an important whistleblowing issue pending before New Jersey’s Supreme Court.