New Jersey Jury Awards $560,000 Whistleblower Verdict

A New Jersey jury recently awarded a $560,000 whistleblower verdict which includes $300,000 in emotional distress damages, $60,000 in back pay and $200,000 in punitive damages against Statue Cruises, a pleasure cruise company.

Howard Flecker III was a deckhand for Statue Cruises, which provides boat tours around the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. He filed a lawsuit against the company in 2009 alleging that a provision of the collective bargaining agreement that covered him and approximately 40 other unionized employees was illegal under the New Jersey Wage and Hour Law. It says the overtime pay rate which is time-and-a-half the regular hourly wage begins after 40 hours, but the agreement required paying overtime only after 48 hours.

The Chief Operating Officer for Statue Cruises circulated a memo to all employees informing them that Flecker has filed the lawsuit and until the case was resolved, the company would not schedule union workers for more than 40 hours per week. The memo also stated: “For those of you who will lose a day’s pay (or more) every week, I leave it to your good judgment whether Local 333’s possible involvement in this lawsuit was in your best interests.”

As a result, Flecker’s co-workers started confronting him and urging him to drop the lawsuit. Flecker’s attorney demanded that the company retract the memo on the ground it violated Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA), but the company refused to do so. Flecker added CEPA claims to his lawsuit, alleging his hours had been cut and the stress of confrontations with his co-workers forced him to resign.

In 2011, a Superior Court Judge dismissed the case on summary judgment. The Appellate Division reversed the dismissal on both claims on November 14, 2012. On remand, the overtime claim was dismissed on preemption grounds and the CEPA claims went to trial before a jury.

The jury held that reducing Flecker’s hours and inciting his co-workers to blame him for their loss of income created a hostile work environment which led to his constructive discharge.

Attorneys for Statue Cruises have indicated they will be filing an appeal.

If you have any questions about the lawsuit discussed above or would like to discuss other employment law matters, please contact me or the Scarinci Hollenbeck attorney with whom you work.