{"id":553,"date":"2014-10-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-10-23T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/events-lindabury.blawgcloud.com\/2014\/10\/new-jersey-supreme-court-raises-the-bar-for-health-care-whistleblowers-under-cepa.html"},"modified":"2025-02-05T11:29:59","modified_gmt":"2025-02-05T16:29:59","slug":"new-jersey-supreme-court-raises-the-bar-for-health-care-whistleblowers-under-cepa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lindabury.com\/firm\/insights\/new-jersey-supreme-court-raises-the-bar-for-health-care-whistleblowers-under-cepa.html","title":{"rendered":"New Jersey Supreme Court Raises the Bar for Health Care Whistleblowers under CEPA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clarifying the burden placed upon health care workers alleging New Jersey Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA) violations, the New Jersey Supreme Court\u2019s recent decision in <\/span> 218 N.J. 8 (2014) illustrates the barriers facing employees who point to alleged violations of codes of ethics or employer policies to support whistleblowing claims.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Facts:<\/strong> Registered Nurse James Hitesman served as shift supervisor for a nursing home operated by Bridgeway, Inc. (\u201cBridgeway\u201d). In 2008, Hitesman e-mailed Bridgeway management expressing concerns that seasonal respiratory and GI symptoms were rising at an alarming rate at the nursing home. Unsatisfied with Bridgeway\u2019s response to his concerns, Hitesman reported the increase in infections to governmental agencies and the media. In his communications with the media, however, Hitesman provided partially redacted copies of Bridgeway administrative logs that nevertheless disclosed information that could lead to the identification of patients. Bridgeway ultimately terminated Hitesman for his disclosure of patient information to the media in violation of the facility\u2019s confidentiality policy and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).<\/p>\n

Hitesman filed suit alleging that his discharge violated CEPA\u2019s prohibition of retaliatory action against a health care employee who reports on, or objects to, employer activity that the employee reasonably believes constitutes \u201cimproper quality of patient care\u201d or is \u201cincompatible with a clear mandate of public policy concerning the public health.\u201d Hitesman pointed out that \u201cimproper quality of patient care\u201d is defined by statute as a violation of \u201cany law, or any rule, regulation or declaratory ruling adopted pursuant to law or professional code of ethics.\u201d To support his claim of a reasonable belief that Bridgeway\u2019s infectious disease practices constituted improper quality of patient care, Hitesman relied upon the American Nursing Association\u2019s Code of Ethics that obligated him to improve patient care, as well as Bridgeway\u2019s Internal Code of Conduct and its Statement of Resident Rights as the governing standard for assessing Bridgeway\u2019s misconduct.<\/p>\n

Continue Reading \u203a<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clarifying the burden placed upon health care workers alleging New Jersey Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA) violations, the New Jersey Supreme Court\u2019s recent decision in 218 N.J. 8 (2014) illustrates the barriers facing employees who point to alleged violations of codes of ethics or employer policies to support whistleblowing claims. The Facts: Registered Nurse James […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[402,65,247],"tags":[],"coauthors":[139],"class_list":["post-553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health-care-insights","category-insights","category-labor-employment-insights"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNew Jersey Supreme Court Raises the Bar for Health Care Whistleblowers under CEPA — October 23, 2014 — Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook & Cooper, P.C. 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