On October 18, 2012, a bill (A3412) was introduced in the New Jersey Assembly to establish a default two-year statute of limitations for most civil actions. Significantly for employers, this would increase the statute of limitations for a defamation claim (currently one year), decrease the statute of limitations for a breach a contract claim (currently six years), and increase the statute of limitations for a retaliation claim for participating in jury duty (currently 90 days). It is unclear whether this bill would increase the statute of limitations for a Conscientious Employee Protection Act claim (currently one year), because unlike the causes of action mentioned above, CEPA was not specifically mentioned in the bill.

Note: This article was published in the December 2012 issue of the New Jersey eAuthority.