Whistleblower Retaliation in Bergen County: What Does It Look Like, and What Can You Do?

The public policy behind federal and New Jersey law is that transparency is the best way to bring workplace misconduct to light. The law encourages whistleblowers to come forward, and it provides them with certain protections when they do. Chief among these protections is the right to be free from whistleblower retaliation. If you have been the victim of this wrongful conduct, you can file a lawsuit against your employer seeking compensation for the damages you have suffered.

Employers Often Wrongfully Retaliate Against Whistleblowers

After you have come forward as a whistleblower, you may notice that things are different on the job. Your fellow employees may studiously avoid you, while your supervisor’s communications with you may take on a different tone. These alone may not be enough to be considered retaliation. However, you may also notice that your daily employment experience is also changing. In more egregious circumstances, your employer would simply push you out the door shortly after you have come forward to report misconduct.

The classic case of whistleblower retaliation involves being terminated from your job, although that is extremely risky for your employer in light of numerous strict laws forbidding it. You cannot expect your employer to reveal the true reason why they terminated you because they know that it could be grounds for a retaliation lawsuit. It would be up to you to uncover circumstantial evidence that could reveal the real reason for your termination. This evidence could include:

• A close proximity in time between when you came forward and when there was adverse action.
• Sudden changes in your performance evaluation.
• Increased scrutiny on your job that did not exist before.
• Suddenly being left out of key meetings and projects.

In many cases, things are not that clear-cut. For example, your employer could take a number of actions to make your employment more tenuous and difficult. They may not overtly terminate you because they know they could be at legal risk. However, they could take measures such as denying you job benefits or even subjecting you to a hostile work environment. These are also a form of retaliation, and they could form the basis of a lawsuit.

Lawsuits for Illegal Whistleblower Retaliation

You have the legal ability to file a lawsuit under federal or New Jersey law. You can seek a number of things in this whistleblower retaliation lawsuit. If you have been terminated from your job, you may petition the court for an injunction to be reinstated. However, courts often hesitate to grant injunctions when there are monetary damages that can be measured. Further, you may not want to be reinstated to your job in light of what happened.

Accordingly, the main focus of most whistleblower retaliation lawsuits is on obtaining full and fair compensation for the loss of your job.

If your case is successful, you may be entitled to the following damages:

• Lost wages for the money that you could have earned had you not been terminated.
• Reduced earnings capacity to compensate you for the harm to your future income potential due to the impairment of your career.
• Reputational damages for the harm done to your personal and professional standing.
• Emotional distress from the ordeal to which you have been subjected
• Attorney’s fees.

If you take your case to trial and win, there is a chance that you may qualify for ‘punitive’ damages. These types of damages are awarded when the jury wants to send a message to the defendant for their own egregious actions. While punitive damages are rare in most lawsuits, they seem to be fitting for a situation in which an employer obviously retaliates against a whistleblower who brought their own poor conduct to light.

Contact the Bergen County Employment Lawyers at Carcich O’Shea for Help in Protecting Your Rights in the Workplace

If you have been the victim of wrongful conduct at work after you have come forward to report misconduct, reach out to the Bergen County employment lawyers at Carcich O’Shea. To schedule an initial consultation, contact us online or call 201-988-1308. Located in Hackensack, New Jersey, we proudly serve clients in Bergen County, Edison Township, Middlesex County, Essex County, Morris County, and Passaic County.