New York Employment Lawyer Blog

The New Jersey Appellate Division recently ruled that a Starbucks employee who reported workplace violations was not a whistleblower because it was her job to report and address such violations. The New Jersey Supreme Court has been asked to review this ruling which could have far reaching implications on NJ's whistleblower statute.

The case, White v. Starbucks, involved an employee, Kari White who was a former district manager. White began working for Starbucks in 2006 and was forced to resign in March of 2007. White claimed that she was fired for reporting workplace activities that were in violation of company policy and law. Some of these included complaints of reporting missing store merchandise, unsanitary conditions at one of the branches, employees drinking alcohol while on the job, after hour sex parties, employees e-mailing pornographic images, and complaints about leaving space between tables and chairs for wheelchair accessibility. Starbucks claimed that she was fired for her aggressive managerial style.

White brought suit under New Jerseys's whistleblower statute, Conscientious Employee Protection Act ("CEPA"), which prevents employers from retaliating against an employee for reporting illegal or fraudulent activities. CEPA's intent is to protect and encourage employees to report illegal and unethical workplace activities as well as discourage public and private sector employees from engaging in such conduct.

The Court found that White's job duties as a District Manager required her to "regularly and customarily exercise discretion in managing the overall operation of the stores within her district including overseeing the district's store management workforce, making management staffing decisions, ensuring district-wide customer satisfaction and product quality, and managing safety and security within the district." Since it was White's job to tell her superiors about any violations she observed at the stores in her charge and make sure that they were corrected, the Court held that she could not bring suit under CEPA. In other words, as a district store manager, it was White's job to perform whistleblowing activities.

Considered to be a very broad statute, the NJ Appellate Court's decision here substantially limits CEPA's scope and reach. You are only entitled to file a CEPA claim and have its protection if you are a true whistleblower. If your job duties involve reporting violations of law, you cannot bring a CEPA claim. Although White's job duties involved whistleblowing activities, the problem here is that she reported the improper and illegal conduct and tried to correct. Contrary to CEPA's intent, in the end, she was terminated. The problem with the Court's decision is that it doesn't protect you from retaliation when you are trying to do what is right.

Our experienced Whistleblower Attorneys have helped many employees evaluate and determine the strength of their whistleblower claims. If you have observed illegal or fraudulent activity at your workplace, don't let the Starbucks ruling discourage you from reporting illegal activity. Call our Whistleblower Attorneys at Villanueva & Sanchala at (800) 893-9645 to discuss your possible options and determine if you have a whistleblower claim under CEPA or under the federal False Claims Act.

Continue reading "New Jersey's CEPA Held Inapplicable to Employee Whose Job Involved Whistleblower Activity" »

Our New York and New Jersey Whisteblower and Retaliation Attorneys have represented clients in cases involving New Jersey's powerful anti-retaliation law known as the Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA). Unlike New York Labor Law Sections 740 and 741, CEPA is a very advantageous tool for employees. CEPA is broad in all aspects of its scope and protects employees and independent contractors who report illegal or unethical activities in the workplace. CEPA applies to almost all employers in New Jersey. In short, CEPA protects you if you refused to participate in activities at work that you believed to be fraudulent, criminal or harmful to the public's health and safety. This covers a wide range of activities in the workplace. Our New Jersey Employment Law Attorneys are very familiar with employee rights under CEPA and have successfully represented clients in these matters.

What activities are protected under CEPA?

CEPA protects employees and independent contractors who:

1. Disclose, or threaten to disclose, to a supervisor or to a public body an activity, policy, or practice of the employer or another employer, with whom there is a business relationship, that the employee reasonably believes is in violation of a law, or a rule or regulation issued under the law, or, in the case of an employee who is a licensed or certified health care professional, reasonably believes constitutes improper quality of patient care;
2. Provide information to, or testify before, any public body conducting an investigation, hearing or inquiry into any violation of law, or a rule or regulation issued under the law by the employer or another employer, with whom there is a business relationship, or, in the case of an employee who is a licensed or certified health care professional, provides information to, or testifies before, any public body conducting an investigation, hearing or inquiry into quality of patient care; or
3. Object to, or refuses to participate in, any activity, policy or practice which the employee reasonably believes:


• is in violation of a law, or a rule or regulation issued under the law, or, if the employee is a licensed or certified health care professional, constitutes improper quality of patient care;


• is fraudulent or criminal; or


• is incompatible with a clear mandate of public policy concerning the public health, safety or welfare or protection of the environment. N.J.S.A. 34:19-3



Importantly, this range of protected activities are far greater than the statutory protected activities in New York and most other states. Similar to New York's Labor Law, an employee will be protected from anti-retaliation under CEPA even if the company's policy, practices or activities are not illegal; the employee or independent contractor merely must have an objectively reasonable belief that his or her allegations are true. Further, the employee does not have to specify the name of the law violated by the employer or state any specific "magic words" invoke protection under CEPA.

Continue reading "New Jersey Whistleblower Law Update: Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA)" »

Aside from a few exceptions set forth below, your employer can fire you for any reason, no reason, or even unfair reasons at any time. Under this doctrine of "employment at will," you can also quit at any time without having to give a reason.

In terminating your employment, your employer may not violate any state or federal laws, collective bargaining agreements or any employment agreements. Although your employer can fire you for no reason, he may not fire you for a prohibited illegal reason. For example, discrimination based on race, gender, pregnancy, national origin, age, disability, retaliation and sexual orientation is illegal under both New York State Law and Federal Law. For example, your employer cannot fire you because he or she feels you are now too old and wants to replace you with a younger worker and a workforce that has more "energy." Similarly, your employer cannot discharge you because he or she just learned that you are homosexual or lesbian and wants only "straight" employees. In many cases, it is not obvious that your employer is discharging you for an illegal discriminatory reason. An employer will not state that you are being terminated because you are woman or some other member of a protected class. Our skilled employment law attorneys are familiar with the fact patterns and scenarios involving illegal workplace terminations. If you suspect that your employer has terminated your employment based on discriminatory reasons, one of our experienced Employment Discrimination attorneys will work with you to determine if you have a potential employment law claim. Our attorneys have helped thousands of employees with workplace discrimination, harassment, wrongful terminations and other disputes.

Another exception to the at will employment doctrine is New York Labor Law Sections 740 and 741, New Jersey Conscientious Employee Protection Act and Connecticut General Statute Section 33-1336, which protect you if you are fired for "whistleblowing" about employer committing specific illegal activities. For example, under New York State Labor Law Section, your boss may not fire you if you reported a violation of law that causes a substantial and specific danger to public health and safety. However, you must have brought this to your supervisor's attention and given him or her a reasonable opportunity to correct the wrongdoing before complaining to a public agency. The New Jersey State Statute CEPA is more broad and generally affords greater protections to employees. If you have complained about a Labor Law violation and were subsequently terminated, talk to one of our experienced Labor and Employment Law Attorneys at (800) 893-9645 to determine if you have a claim for unlawful retaliation.

Continue reading "Does my employer have to give me a reason for firing me?" »