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Mehlman v. Mobil Oil Corp.6/13/1996
The opinion of the court was delivered by PETRELLA, P.J.A.D.
Plaintiff, Dr. Myron A. Mehlman, and the individual defendants were employees of defendant Mobil Oil Corporation (Mobil). Mehlman claimed that Mobil had discharged him in retaliation for his objecting to excessive levels (over 5%) of benzene, a toxic substance, in gasoline produced and sold by Mobil's subsidiary in Japan. Mehlman brought suit under the Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA), N.J.S.A. 34:19-1 to -8. A jury returned a verdict in his favor and awarded him $3,440,300 in compensatory damages and $3,500,000 in punitive damages.
The trial Judge granted Mobil's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict on the ground that Mehlman had failed to identify a clear mandate of public policy which he reasonably believed Mobil had violated, as required by CEPA. See N.J.S.A. 34:19-3c(3). The Judge was reluctant to give CEPA extraterritorial effect. Nevertheless, because the Judge considered Mobil's conduct outrageous, he amended the complaint to conform to the evidence supporting a prima facie tort claim and entered judgment for Mehlman on that claim. As a result, the Judge granted Mehlman only the amount of punitive damages that the jury had awarded. On this appeal, Mobil challenges the prima facie tort award and defends the dismissal of the CEPA claim as mandated by the Commerce Clause. Mehlman cross-appeals, seeking reinstatement of his CEPA award and reversal of the pretrial dismissal of his defamation claim.
Mehlman's complaint alleged, among other things, that (1) Mobil had violated CEPA and wrongfully terminated his employment in violation of Mobil's regulations and the parties' employment contract, and (2) Mobil and the individual defendants had defamed him. His complaint asserted that while conferring with Mobil employees in Japan in the fall of 1989, Mehlman had warned them that they should reduce benzene levels in Mobil gasoline because the chemical "posed a serious threat to the public health and environment...." Mehlman's employment was terminated immediately upon his return from Japan.
Mobil denied the material allegations of Mehlman's claims, asserting that it had terminated him for just cause, and counterclaimed that he had misappropriated Mobil's assets and funds. It also filed a third-party complaint against Princeton Scientific Publishing Co., Inc., a company owned by Mehlman's wife.
In March 1992, Mobil successfully moved to dismiss certain of Mehlman's non-CEPA claims against the individual defendants on the ground that they were barred by N.J.S.A. 34:19-8, which provides that a CEPA action waives other rights and remedies. As to the remaining claims, the Judge denied Mobil's subsequent motion for summary judgment, which was based upon Mehlman's failure to cite any law, regulation or clear mandate of public policy that Mobil had violated. See N.J.S.A. 34:19-3. The case proceeded to trial.
We conclude that the trial Judge erred in vacating the jury award on the CEPA claim. Although we reject Mobil's due process objections to the post-trial amendment of the complaint, we agree that the prima facie tort claim is barred by the CEPA waiver provision because it was based upon the same retaliatory discharge as the CEPA claim. On the other hand, since Mehlman's defamation claim was independent of his CEPA claim, the Judge erred in dismissing it. Hence, for the reasons hereinafter stated, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and reinstate the jury verdict and damage awards.
I.
A proper understanding of the case necessitates a somewhat lengthy Discussion. Mehlman earned his Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in
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