What Sloan v. Cape Regional Medical Center Teaches Employers About Defeating Vague CEPA Whistleblower Complaints

New Jersey’s Conscientious Employee Protection Act (“CEPA”) is generally considered to be one of the broadest whistleblower statutes in the country, enacted to “protect and encourage employees to report illegal or unethical workplace activities.” Due to CEPA’s broad nature, employers often struggle to identify strategies to dispose of CEPA claims short of settlement or trial. One tool available to employers in defending CEPA claims is CEPA’s identification requirement. A plaintiff must do more than simply voice displeasure with an employer’s operations to succeed on a CEPA claim.