Title: Deborah G. Alderiso v. The Medical Center of Ocean County, Inc., et als.

State: new-jersey

Issuer: New Jersey Supreme Court

Document:

(This syllabus is not part of the opinion of the Court. It has been prepared by the Office of the Clerk for the convenience of the reader. It has been neither reviewed nor approved by the Supreme Court. Please note that, in the interests of brevity, portions of any opinion may not have been summarized). Verniero, J., writing for a unanimous Court. This appeal involves the provision of the Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA) that sets forth a one-year limitations period for suits arising out of an employer's alleged retaliatory conduct. Specifically, the Court addresses the issue of whether the plaintiff's cause of action under CEPA accrued on the date that she received notice of her termination or on some later date, such as the date of discharge or the first day of unemployment. Plaintiff, Deborah Alderiso, is a registered nurse. The defendant Medical Center of Ocean County (Medical Center) hired her as a case manager in late 1996. On January 14, 1997, the Medical Center informed Alderiso orally that she was being discharged for poor performance. Her supervisor instructed her to return to work the following day to close out her files. Alderiso did not return to work the following day. However, she was paid her regular salary through and including that day, January 15, 1997. Following her discharge, Alderiso applied for unemployment compensation. Her application was denied on the ground that she had been discharged for misconduct. The appeal tribunal within the New Jersey Department of Labor reversed that denial, concluding that the Medical Center had discharged Alderiso because of her disagreements with managers and not because of alleged misconduct. In its written decision, the tribunal included a finding of fact that the Medical Center had employed Alderiso through January 14, 1997, when she was discharged. In contrast, the Medical Center's own personnel records note January 15, 1997, as the date of Alderiso's termination. On January 16, 1998, Alderiso filed an action in the Law Division, alleging violations of CEPA. In her complaint, Alderiso charged that she was discharged on the basis of her actions concerning five patients to whom she had been assigned as a case manager. She specifically alleged that she was discharged because her actions in respect of those patients did not agree with the instructions of her supervisors, which she believed to be either unlawful or not in the best interests of the patients. Alderiso further asserted that the Medical Center violated Medicare regulations by instructing employees to order new supplies rather than use the medical supplies in inventory. Finally, she alleged that the Medical Center trained employees to prepare documentation to guarantee Medicare reimbursement without regard to actual patient needs. The trial court dismissed Alderiso's CEPA claims on statute of limitations grounds. In an unreported opinion, the Appellate Division affirmed, concluding that Alderiso's complaint was untimely filed because it was filed one year and one day after her cause of action accrued. The panel specifically concluded that Alderiso's claims had accrued on January 15, 1997, the date of her discharge, and that the one-year limitations period should be measured from January 16, 1997. The Supreme Court granted Alderiso's petition for certification. HELD: When an employer's alleged conduct consists of a wrongful termination, the employee's cause of action under the Conscientious Employee Protection Act accrues on the date of actual discharge. 1. The overall objective of CEPA is to protect society by shielding employees who expose illegal or deleterious activities at the workplace. (pp. 6-7) 2. Although an appellate court generally is bound to the factual determinations made by the trier of fact, the function of the appellate court broadens where the fact finder's determination is based on an error in the evaluation of the underlying facts, as opposed to a credibility assessment. The dispute concerning Alderiso's date of discharge represents a legal dispute, not a question of fact, and is thus within the Court's purview to resolve. (pp. 8-10) 3. The date of discharge means the last day for which an employee is paid his or her regular wage or salary, notwithstanding his or her absence from work on that date. In addition, the date of discharge for limitations purposes does not include any subsequent date on which severance, health, or other extended benefits are paid. (pp. 10-11) 4. Both the Ricks and the Chardon federal decisions are inapplicable to this case. (pp. 11-14) 5. In computing time under the statute of limitations, the day on which the cause of action accrued, which is the date of discharge, is not to be counted. (pp. 14-16) 6. Prospective application of a rule may be warranted when an issue is one of first impression and a plaintiff reasonably relies on a plausible, although incorrect, interpretation of the law. (pp. 16-17) 7. For this suit, and for similar suits already commenced or on appeal by other plaintiffs, a cause of action for wrongful discharge under CEPA shall be considered to have accrued on the employee's first day of unemployment. For actions filed after the date of this opinion, the applicable accrual date shall be the employee's date of discharge, which is defined as the last day for which the employee is paid a regular salary or wage, and does not encompass any subsequent date on which severance, health, or other extended benefits are paid. (pp. 17-18) Judgment of the Appellate Division dismissing plaintiff's CEPA action on statute of limitations grounds is REVERSED. CHIEF JUSTICE PORITZ and JUSTICES STEIN, COLEMAN, LONG, LaVECCHIA, and ZAZZALI join in JUSTICE VERNIERO's opinion. DEBORAH G. ALDERISO, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. THE MEDICAL CENTER OF OCEAN COUNTY, INC., A New Jersey Corporation, OCEAN HOME CARE, INC., OCEAN HEALTH SYSTEMS, INC., MERIDIAN HEALTHCARE, INC., A New Jersey Corporation, CHARLES JARVIS, SHARON WILLIAMS, JAN DELLAPARTE and MARY KELSA, Defendants-Respondents, and ABC, INC., 1-10, defendant corporation(s) whose name(s) is/are unknown, JOHN DOE 1-10 and JANE ROE 1-10, defendant(s) whose name(s) is/are unknown, individually, Defendants. Argued January 2, 2001 -- Decided May 9, 2001 On certification to the Superior Court, Appellate Division. Charles F. Wetherell argued the cause for appellant (Charles F. Wetherell & Associates, attorneys; Michael W. Hoffman, on the brief). The opinion of the Court was delivered by VERNIERO, J. This appeal involves the provision of the Conscientious Employee Protection Act, N.J.S.A. 34:19-1 to -8 (CEPA), that sets forth the limitations period for suits arising out of an employer's alleged retaliatory conduct. The provision states that [u]pon a violation of any of the provisions of this act, an aggrieved employee or former employee may, within one year, institute a civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction. N.J.S.A. 34:19-5. We must determine whether plaintiff's cause of action accrued on the date that she received notice of her termination or on some later date, such as the date of discharge or the first day of unemployment. We hold that when the employer's alleged conduct consists of wrongful termination, the employee's cause of action under CEPA accrues on the date of actual discharge. We interpret that date to mean the last day for which the employee is paid a regular salary or wage. It does not include any subsequent date on which severance, health, or other extended benefits are paid. For computation purposes, the first day to be included in the one- year limitations period is the day after the date of discharge. Because this is a case of first impression, we apply our holding prospectively. Thus, plaintiff's suit may proceed, notwithstanding that she filed suit a year and one day after the date of discharge. NO. A-100 DEBORAH G. ALDERISO, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. THE MEDICAL CENTER OF OCEAN COUNTY, INC., A New Jersey Corporation, OCEAN HOME CARE, INC., OCEAN HEALTH SYSTEMS, INC., MERIDIAN HEALTHCARE, INC., A New Jersey Corporation, CHARLES JARVIS, SHARON WILLIAMS, JAN DELLAPARTE and MARY KELSA, Defendants-Respondents. DECIDED May 9, 2001 Chief Justice Poritz