Glossary of Legal Terms

“Whistleblower Act”/Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA)

Employer retaliatory action; protected employee actions; employee responsibilities
1) New Jersey law prohibits an employer from taking any retaliatory action against an employee because the employee does any of the following:
a) Discloses, or threatens to disclose, to a supervisor or to a public body an activity, policy or practice of the employer or another employer, with whom there is a business relationship, that the employee reasonably believes is in violation of a law, or a rule or regulation issued under the law, or, in the case of an employee who is a licensed or certified health care professional, reasonably believes constitutes improper quality of patient care;
b) Provides information to, or testifies before, any public body conducting an investigation, hearing or inquiry into any violation of law, or a rule or regulation issued under the law by the employer or another employer, with whom there is a business relationship, or, in the case of an employee who is a licensed or certified health care professional, provides information to, or testifies before, any public body conducting an investigation, hearing or inquiry into quality of patient care; or
c) Provides information involving deception of, or misrepresentation to, any shareholder, investor, client, patient, customer, employee, former employee, retiree or pensioner of the employer or any governmental entity.
d) Provides information regarding any perceived criminal or fraudulent activity, policy or practice of deception or misrepresentation which the employee reasonably believes may defraud any shareholder, investor, client, patient, customer, employee, former employee, retiree or pensioner of the employer or any governmental entity.
e) Objects to, or refuses to participate in, any activity, policy or practice which the employee reasonably believes:
i) is in violation of a law, or a rule or regulation issued under the law or, if the employee is a licensed or certified health care professional, constitutes improper quality of patient care;
ii) is fraudulent or criminal; or
iii) is incompatible with a clear mandate of public policy concerning the public health, safety or welfare or protection of the environment. N.J.S.A. 34:19-3.
2) The protection against retaliation, when a disclosure is made to a public body, does not apply unless the employee has brought the activity, policy or practice to the attention of a supervisor of the employee by written notice and given the employer a reasonable opportunity to correct the activity, policy or practice. However, disclosure is not required where the employee reasonably believes that the activity, policy or practice is known to one or more supervisors of the employer or where the employee fears physical harm as a result of the disclosure, provided that the situation is emergency in nature.

Will

An instrument by which a person makes a disposition of his or her property, to take effect after his or her death, and which by its own nature is ambulatory and revocable during his or her lifetime. A person who makes a will is called a Testator (trix).

See: What is a Will on our Wills, Trusts and Estates page.

Willful

Intentional; not accidental or involuntary.

Witness

One who, being present, personally sees or perceives a thing. One who testifies to what he has seen, heard, or otherwise observed.

Workers’ Compensation

A “no fault” insurance program that provides the following benefits to employees who suffer job-related injuries or illnesses:

• Medical Benefits
• Temporary Total Benefits
• Permanent Partial Benefits
• Permanent Total Benefits

It also provides death benefits to dependents of workers who have died as a result of their employment.

See: Our Workers' Compensation page

Wrongful Birth

Wrongful Birth is a medical malpractice claim brought by the parents of a child born with birth defects. In this claim, the parents assert that their doctor had neglected to inform them of the risks of having a child with birth defects, thereby depriving them of the opportunity to avoid conception or terminate the pregnancy. In a wrongful birth action, if the parents can prove negligence, they are awarded a reasonable monetary sum to help pay for medical care for the child.

Examples of wrongful birth cases include a Texas woman (Jacobs v. Theimer) who had contracted rubella in the first month of pregnancy. Her practitioner failed to diagnose the rubella, and the child was born with birth defects.

Wrongful Life Action

In a Wrongful Life action, the parents sue on behalf of the child, claiming that their doctor or hospital had not prevented the birth of the child because they had failed to diagnose an illness that would have prompted the mother to have an abortion.

In a wrongful life suit, it is claimed that the mother would have had an abortion had she been informed of potential birth defects.

In a wrongful birth or life action, the parents of an unplanned child seek to shift to the defendant various costs, including medical expenses of pregnancy and delivery, pain and suffering, and the more formidable costs of rearing and educating a child.

Litigation arises in several contexts:

• Malpracticed sterilization operations, including both tubal ligations and vasectomies constitute the major number of suits.
• Failures to diagnose pregnancy in time for abortion, and failures to perform successful abortions.

The suits are brought mainly on the basis of negligence (link to negligence).

Wrongful Death Action

A type of lawsuit brought on behalf of a deceased person’s beneficiaries (spouse, parent, children) that alleges that death was due to the willful or negligent act of another.