Jury waiver of CEPA claim is permitted as long as the terms are clear and unambiguous and show the relinquishment of a known right.

The plaintiff initiated a whistleblower claim against his employer under the New Jersey Conscientious Employee Protection Act. The plaintiff’s employment contract included a jury waiver provision that applied to “any suit, action or proceeding” under the agreement. While upholding the right to contractually waive a right to a jury trial for a CEPA claim, the court concluded that, to be effective, the provision must clearly and unambiguously show the relinquishment of a known right. The court concluded that the language of the employment contract made no reference to statutory claims or extended to claims relating to the employment. As such, it failed to apply to the CEPA claim being asserted.

_{Case Law Alerts, 3rd Quarter, July 2017}

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