On July 25, 2017, in a 2-1 decision, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals held inTrzaska v. L’Oréal USA, Inc., that the termination of an employee for refusing to follow a corporate policy that disregards obligatory professional standards can serve as the basis for a claim under New Jersey’s whistleblower statute, the Conscientious Employee Protection Act (“CEPA”).
This broad reading of the statute has implications for New Jersey employers in particular, but the court’s analysis could be applied to cover employers elsewhere through similar state and federal statutes.