Employee Claims She Lost Job by Reporting Illegal Seafood Co. Practices

A New Jersey resident from Scotland, who began working in 2000 for seafood company North Landing Ltd. at the invitation of its former owner, has filed a wrongful discharge suit against the company, its new owners and a supervisor claiming that her concerns over the company’s purportedly illegal practices, when brought to the attention of her supervisor, resulted in him verbally berating and slapping her, thus creating a hostile work environment that she could no longer tolerate. Chadwick v. North Landing Ltd., No. L1776-12 (N.J. Super. Ct., Passaic Cty., filed April 26, 2012).

Among other matters, the plaintiff alleges that the company processed and
sold farm-raised salmon treated for sea lice with Salmosan, a chemical that
she claims the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved. She
contends that when she brought this to her supervisor’s attention, he told
her to “delete computer records showing the fish having been treated with
Salmosan.” She also alleges that the company used a salinating machine on
the production floor to add weight to salmon fillets and did not disclose
this practice to its customers. According to the complaint, when an FDA
inspector arrived on the premises, her supervisor asked if she had instructed a
co-worker to turn off the salinating machine, and when she indicated she had
not done so, her supervisor called her a “stupid bitch” and ran to the production
floor to find the co-worker.

The plaintiff also alleges that the company sold to its customers “cheap
salmon dumped in Miami from Chile” after falsely repackaging it as Scottish
salmon. In March 2012, concerned about these alleged practices, the plaintiff
claims that she confronted her supervisor and told him she did not want to
participate in these activities. He allegedly slapped her and screamed at her
and later told her to “go home and think about what you just made me do.”
Thereafter, she allegedly reported the attack to the police and then went to
the hospital where she was allegedly “found to have severe tachycardia and
acute anxiety reaction in response to the assault and battery.”

Claiming liability under New Jersey’s Conscientious Employee Protection Act,
which she avers protects employees from retaliation for reporting practices
reasonably believed to be in violation of a law, rule or regulation, the plaintiff
seeks lost wages and benefits, costs, and attorney’s fees, as well as payment
of civil penalties to the state. She also alleges battery and negligence and
seeks further damages for “emotional injuries accompanied by physical
manifestations.”