Recent New Jersey Supreme Court Decision Allows Protection for Employees who Identify Health and Safety Risks

New Jersey’s whistleblower law was extended Thursday to include employees whose job description includes identifying health and safety risks.

The New Jersey Supreme Court’s decision was a unanimous one, with the court largely affirming an appeals court ruling that found whistleblower protections cover tipster employees. Legal advocates who had argued that a lack of protection from employer retaliation would prevent people from speaking out kept a close eye on the case, according to NJSpotlight.com.

The court reviewed the language of the Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA) and ultimately rejected arguments that it should not apply to employees whose job it is to expose workplace hazards and problems with a manufacturer’s products. “There is simply no support in CEPA’s definition of ‘employee’ to restrict the Act’s application and preclude its protection of watchdog employees,’’ wrote Justice Jaynee LaVecchia in a 38-page ruling obtained by NJSpotlight.com.

The case involved Ethicon, a unit of Johnson & Johnson (J&J), and a company physician whose job it was to provide medical opinions about the safety of Ethicon’s pharmaceutical products used for surgical procedures. The doctor had objected several times to the proposed or continual sale and distribution of the unit’s medical products, saying they should be kept from the market, recalled, or further researched, NJSpotlight.com reports.

In April 2006, the whistleblower recommended a product be recalled. Ethicon issued the recall but fired the tipster the next month, saying he had an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate in a different department. He then filed a lawsuit, according to NJSpotlight.com.

A lower court initially dismissed the whistleblower’s lawsuit, but the decision was later reversed by a state appeals panel. The New Jersey Supreme Court agreed with the appeals court’s ruling, except it also ruled that tipster employees are not required to demonstrate that they exhaustively pursued all internal complaint processes prior to filing a whistleblower lawsuit, NJSpotlight.com reports.

“This ruling dramatically increases the probability that whistleblower claims may be brought against New Jersey business,’’ said Michele Sierkerka, president and CEO of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association.

 

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