NJ High Court Creates New Worries For Whistleblower Attys, Law360, ft. Anna Maria Tejada

Anna Maria Tejada, partner at Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck, LLP (KD) in NewJersey, has been quoted in a Law360 article published June 23, 2015. Anna Maria comments specifically on a New Jersey high court ruling which found sufficient support for an indictment accusing a former North Bergen Board of Education employee of official misconduct and theft by unlawful taking of public documents. The defendent allegedly removed or copied hundreds of confidential student records from the board’s offices, and her attorney produced those materials during discovery in her suit under the state Law Against Discrimination and Conscientious Employee Protection Act, among other statutes. The board then notified the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office about the alleged theft.

“The decision should help public and private employers alike enforce confidentiality policies, and it makes clear that the best avenue of securing documents is the discovery process,” according to Anna Maria Tejada, a partner at Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck LLP.

“I think what it’s going to have a chilling effect on is inappropriate actions by employees in trying to do their own investigations,” Tejada said.