as You Work
Legal Issues in the Workplace
The New Jersey Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA) makes it unlawful for an employer to retaliate against an employee because the employee did any of the following:
And that’s just a summary of what the law actually says! So, let’s unpack all that language and restate it in plain English.
The law protects employees who:
The last two kinds of whistleblowing are the broadest for two reasons. First, the objection or refusal does not need to be made to anyone in particular (like a supervisor or public body as required for disclosure or testimony). Second, the underlying wrongful conduct does not even have to be something the employer (or an employer with whom there is a business relationship) is doing; it could be something an unrelated third party is doing.
Not all whistleblowing is protected. The only kind of whistleblowing that is protected is an activity that the employee reasonably believes is:
This embraces crimes, civil wrongs like fraud and virtually anything that threatens the public or the environment.
The courts do not expect employees to be lawyers. The whistleblower does not need to cite a specific law or public policy. In fact, whistleblowers do not even have to be right. As long as it was reasonable to believe that the wrongful conduct was unlawful, constituted improper health care, or violated a public policy protecting the public or the environment, the whistleblower is protected, even if he or she was mistaken about the facts and even if the facts do not support an actual violation of law or public policy.
If you are being or have been retaliated against because you blew the whistle on unlawful conduct, improper health care or violations of public policy, email or call Lenzo & Reis, LLC, in Morristown, at (973) 845-9922 to speak with an experienced employment law attorney. We represent employees filing whistleblower retaliation claims throughout New Jersey.