Top News Clips for the Week of Jan. 17-23
A selection of the need-to-know civil justice news for the [...]
Recapping the Oral Arguments in Lippman v. Ethicon, Inc.
On January 20, the New Jersey Supreme Court heard oral arguments in one of its biggest cases of 2015, Lippman v. Ethicon, Inc. The court will decide if an employee performing activities as part of his or her core job functions, on that basis alone and without further conduct by the employee, can seek whistleblower protection under the Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA) if they are fired. The day after the case was heard, NJCJI hosted a policy teleforum on the case featuring Adam Saravay, a partner at McCarter & English, who co-authored NJCJI & NJBIA's joint amicus brief and participated on the organizations' behalf in the high court's oral arguments on the case. During the call, Saravay provided an overview of the case and its implications before sharing his insights on how oral arguments in the case went.
New York’s Top Opponent of Legal Reform Arrested on Corruption Charges
On Thursday, New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was arrested on federal corruption charges. A spokesman for the American Tort Reform Association called the arrest a “turning point” in the effort to combat abuses in the nation’s top judicial hellhole since Silver is the state’s number one opponent of legal reform.
Top News Clips for the Week of Jan. 10-16
A selection of the need-to-know civil justice news for the [...]
Christie Calls for New Jersey Renewal in State of the State Address
On Tuesday, January 13, 2015, Gov. Chris Christie delivered his fifth State of the State Address. One of the main points of the speech was a call for a “New Jersey renewal.” The New Jersey Civil Justice Institute shares this sentiment.
Bill Expanding Employment Protections to Interns Advances
On January 15, the Assembly Labor Committee voted to advance a trio of bills that would expand New Jersey’s employee protection laws so that they cover unpaid interns. While appreciate the concern for young people in the workplace, and for interns in particular, we are concerned that this bill will cause employers to stop offering unpaid internships. The bill so greatly increases employers’ liability risk that hiring interns becomes imprudent.
When Whistling Is Your Work: A Recap of the Oral Arguments in Lippman v. Ethicon, Inc.
The New Jersey Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in one of its biggest cases of 2015, Lippman v. Ethicon, Inc., on Tuesday, January 20. NJCJI is hosting a post-oral argument policy teleforum on this important employment law case on January 21 at noon.
Top News Clips for the Week of Jan. 3-9
A selection of the need-to-know civil justice news for the [...]
When Whistling Is Your Work
David Tykulsker’s recent opinion piece in the Star-Ledger, “N.J. Supreme Court should protect workplace whistleblowers,” paints a very one-sided, doom-and-gloom picture of the soon-to-be-argued employment law case Lippman v. Ethicon, Inc. Whistle-blowing under Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA) has long been understood to mean something different than doing your job if you are tasked with being an in-house watchdog. Efforts by the plaintiff’s bar to upend this area of law to allow for more lawsuits should be dismissed.
New Jersey’s Leviathan
New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act has been expanded over the years by the courts and the legislature to the point where it is no longer focused on protecting consumers from fraud. It is instead a catch-all claim that is pulled into all sorts of disputes - consumers and fraud optional. A few recent cases really illustrate this point.