New Jersey's CEPA in Pennsylvania Federal Court? Motion to Dismiss Denied Post-Ethicon

It’s not too often that a federal court in a neighboring state has the occasion to decide issues under New Jersey’s Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA).  But recently, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania got to do just that in James Kerrigan v. Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc., denying a motion to dismiss based on the New Jersey Supreme Court’s recent decision in Lippman v. Ethicon, Inc.

 

But how did Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. (“Otsuka”), a Delaware corporation whose principal place of business (and the location where the plaintiff worked) was in Princeton, wind up litigating a claim under NJ law on the other side of the Delaware River?  Despite the fact that the plaintiff, James Kerrigan, worked in New Jersey, and thus the parties’ relationship was governed by NJ law, he lived in Pennsylvania.  So, he sued in Pennsylvania—the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas—under CEPA, among other NJ claims.  Based on the parties’ diversity, however, Otsuka removed the case to federal court in Philadelphia, opting for federal court over the Court of Common Pleas. 

 

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