Standing up and reporting wrongdoing in the workplace can be a cause of anxiety for some employees. They may worry that they will become the target of harassment or even lose their job for whistleblowing. But federal and New Jersey state laws are in place to protect workers from employer retaliation. And a recent New Jersey court case may provide an additional deterrent to prevent employers from wrongfully terminating employees.

The man who lost his job in the case was employed by the state of New Jersey in the Division of Consumer Affairs Office of Consumer Protection. He had been there 16 years and held the position of executive director. He reported a fellow employee for violating workplace practices. That fellow employee had political connections, and the man was fired in 2007.

In 2011, a jury found that his job loss was the result of discrimination. He was reinstated to the Division of Consumer Affairs, although in a different position. His salary, however, was the same as the one he earned before being fired. He was also awarded $260,000 in damages.

In the most recent development in the case, last week a Superior Court judge ordered the state, which lost the lawsuit, to pay the man’s legal fees, totaling $1.29 million. The judge cited a newly decided case from the New Jersey Supreme Court that gives detailed instructions on how to rule in cases where the winning party requests that the losing party pay its legal bills.

Such cases are called “statutory shifting cases,” and the state Legislature has adopted laws determining under what circumstances one legal party can shift its fees onto another. The judge noted the importance of the laws in cases such as the present one because, in their absence, “fundamental rights may be left unprotected, especially for those without resources to pay for adequate representation.”

The man who won the case was quoted as saying, “To anyone who may find themselves in my position, they can know that it is worth the fight.”

Source: New Jersey Star-Ledger, “Newark judge orders state to pay whistle-blower’s legal fees,” Alexi Friedman, Feb. 11, 2012.