Employee can assert whistleblower claim under CEPA, even if the employer was already aware of the alleged offense from a separate source.

The plaintiff alleged he was terminated in retaliation for his reporting/whistleblowing about a manager’s potential violation of an anti-kickback statute. The same issue had been brought to the employer’s attention by another employee. Therefore, the employer sought to dismiss the CEPA claim based upon the argument that the plaintiff had not engaged in whistleblowing activity since it already knew of the claimed offense. In an issue of first impression, Judge McNulty held that public policy mandated that the CEPA statute be construed liberally to effectuate its goal. Additionally, the fact that the employer already knew of the issue did not preclude a finding that the plaintiff had engaged in “whistleblowing.” The court refused to follow a decision applying Minnesota’s whistleblower statute holding to the contrary.

_{Case Law Alerts, 4^th Quarter, October 2018}

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