Acting as a whistleblower requires courage and risks that your employer might engage in prohibited retaliation. The law provides protections for those who report unlawful conduct at work, and our whistleblower attorneys at Lite DePalma Greenberg & Afanador, LLC represent claimants throughout this process. We are often approached by clients at various stages of the whistleblower process, and below are some of the questions that we commonly hear.
You may want to protect your identity because you do not want to face retaliation on the job. Whether you can file an anonymous whistleblower report depends on the statute and agency involved. There are times when you may need to come forward using your name, especially if you are filing a qui tam lawsuit that may not be allowed to proceed anonymously past a certain point.
You should always check with a whistleblower lawyer to learn whether you can protect your identity and the most effective way to report misconduct. If your identity becomes public, you are entitled to the full protections of any relevant whistleblower laws.
Courts will not infer that you have a private right of action unless it is clear from the legislative intent behind the law. That said, most major laws that protect whistleblowers provide for a means to sue your employer if they have violated your rights. Our lawyers can assess which laws apply to your specific situation and advise on the legal avenues available.
There are forms of whistleblower retaliation other than termination. You might still be at your job, but you are being isolated or feel like you are being pushed out the door. Most plaintiffs will file a lawsuit after they have been fired or quit under pressure, but there is nothing that says that you cannot be considered a victim of whistleblower retaliation when you are still on the job and experience harassment, unfair treatment, or other adverse actions.
New Jersey has its own state law that gives whistleblowers (and even employees who object to their employer’s actions) a vast amount of protection. The state has the Conscientious Employee Protection Act, which is one of the most robust state whistleblower protection laws in the country.
Not only are you protected if you report misconduct, but the law also covers you if you refuse to carry out actions that you believe are:
You can object to what you reasonably believe to be a wrongful directive by informing your supervisor. If you do not carry out the action requested, your employer cannot lawfully take any action against you.
Your employer is seldom going to come straight out and announce that they are taking action against you because you are a whistleblower. That would open them up to liability in a lawsuit, and brazen actions could even mean they might be assessed punitive damages by a jury.
More likely, you will need to build a case that relies on circumstantial evidence that shows a nexus between what your employer did and your own protected activities. Accordingly, you must do everything that you can to document your case because you may have to rely on many forms of evidence. Keep all of the evidence that you have in your possession because you never know when you may lose access to your work systems.
You are always free to ask the court to order injunctive relief if you win, in the form of giving you your old job back. Courts often hesitate to give injunctive relief if they can more easily address your concerns through a monetary award.
In other words, it is more likely that you will receive compensation for the harm you have suffered as opposed to being reinstated to your position. However, you are always free to seek whatever relief you feel is necessary from the court to right the wrong that was done to you. In some cases, courts have given both monetary and injunctive relief to plaintiffs.
As a plaintiff in a lawsuit, you always have your right to a day in court, provided that your filings survive an initial attempt by the defendant to have your case dismissed. However, not every whistleblower lawsuit will end up at a trial in court. Even if you file a lawsuit, there is a good chance that your case may be settled before it reaches the point of a trial.
The defendant certainly has an incentive to minimize their liability and avoid the risk of punitive damages if they acted egregiously. At the same time, you also do not want to run the risk of losing your case at trial and getting nothing. Both of these motivations often push the two parties to try to resolve the case through a settlement, which is the most likely outcome in any type of litigation.
If you have faced retaliation for reporting illegal or unsafe workplace practices, you need an experienced advocate on your side. Our whistleblower lawyers at Lite DePalma Greenberg & Afanador, LLC handle whistleblower claims under CEPA and federal law. We can guide you through the legal process, protect your rights, and fight for the compensation and justice you deserve.
Contact us today to discuss your case by messaging us online or by calling our office at 973-623-3000, and take the first step toward holding your employer accountable.
