July 22, 2015

What is a "reasonable" belief of wrongdoing under CEPA

In order to establish a prima facie case under CEPA, a plaintiff must allege factual support for the following: (1) Plaintiff reasonably believed Defendant’s actions were violating the law; (2) Plaintiff performed some whistle-blowing action under N.J.S.A. 34:19-3c; (3) Defendant took some adverse employment action against Plaintiff; and (4) a causal nexus exists between the whistle-blowing action and the adverse employment action.

In Robert v. Autopart Int’l, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 84606 (D.N.J. 2015), the District
Court considered whether an injured employee’s alleged conversation with a supervisor who told him to file a claim with his own insurer rather than worker’s compensation satisfied the first prong of CEPA. The worker alleged that he told the unnamed supervisor that it was insurance fraud for him to proceed through his own carrier, but the Court found that that was not a “reasonable” belief and dismissed the case without prejudice. 

Our Labor and  Employment group has litigated a number of these cases; should you have any questions email John Bowens at jmb@spsk.com.